


Not Happening

by notimetoblog



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Fluff, F/M, a little bit of a jerk Bucky, bucky fluff, but he may or may not get nicer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-13 16:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16895934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notimetoblog/pseuds/notimetoblog
Summary: An online dating site clearly makes a mistake when it matches you with the one person you cannot stand.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HI! This is my first time uploading to AO3! I will be reuploading my story here. It was originally posted on Tumblr :)I got some inspiration for this story while watching the episode "Soulmates" from Parks and Rec. Hope you guys enjoy! Thanks for reading

_Meet us downstairs in 5_

Panic raced through your body as you realized you only had 5 minutes to meet Nat and Wanda. They had texted you almost two hours ago hoping you’d join them for coffee and you had, of course, left getting ready until the end.

Running to your closet you picked up the closest clothing items and threw them on, hoping you didn’t look too much of a mess. You gave yourself a quick look in the mirror, knowing there wasn’t enough time to do much more, grabbed your purse, and raced down the stairs.

Everybody knew Nat was a stickler for punctuality. It was her mission in life to be early to anything and everything she was ever invited to. Although she would never admit it, she always tried her best to rub off her punctuality to her friends, becoming easily annoyed when Tony or Sam claimed to be “fashionably late”. This was just a casual meeting with friends, but still, your survival instincts told you not to keep Nat waiting.

Exciting your building you looked up and down the street, a smile spreading across your face when you spotted your friends.

“Hey guys,” you said as you approached them, giving them a small wave.

“Hi,” they greeted in unison. Wanda was adjusting a cross body bag she wore as they began walking towards you.

You had known Nat and Wanda for several years now. Luck had placed all three of you in the same class in high school and you had become inseparable ever since. All three of your personalities complimented each other perfectly. Nat’s usual intense approach to life was balanced out by Wanda’s more easy-going attitude. You usually found yourself in between the two with a not so intense yet not so carefree attitude, finishing off the perfect mixture for a lasting friendship.

–

“So, you’re saying he was a dud,” Nat said with a smirk from behind her coffee cup. She had been showing a lot of interest in your love life, well to state more accurately, your non-existent love life.

The three of you were sipping on your coffee, casually conversing about a series of topics that had ranged from the recent news, to World Cup, to the date you had been on a few nights ago. If you knew anything about Nat and Wanda was that if they had something they wanted to know about you, they would most likely be able to ease it out of you. So, you carefully listened to their questions hoping to see where they were steering the conversation.

“That’s not what I said,” you replied with a chuckle.

A few nights ago, you had gone out to dinner with Jake, a new coworker. It had been a nice date. He had been a gentleman, opening doors and pulling out chairs, listening to you talk about your interests, had been very good at keeping the conversation going, yet after you had said goodbye you realized it felt more like you had hung out with Nat or Wanda. There had been no sparks, just a lovely beginning to a new friendship.

“He’s a great guy,” you continued, ignoring the sarcastic sounds of agreement both your friends were making. “He is! He’s kind, a great listener, but you know, he’s more of a guy that would make an excellent friend.”

“Fine,” Nat said, teasingly rolling her eyes. “If we’re getting technical, I guess you could say that even though he wasn’t a dud, the date was. Is that more accurate?”

“Yes!” you said, mockingly slamming your hands on the table. “That’s exactly it!”

“Well,” Wanda began and the way she drew out that word made you a tad nervous. “Maybe you can try looking somewhere else?”

“Come on, just spit it out Wanda,” you said knowing very well she must have been thinking something up with Nat if they seemed this interested in who you were or weren’t dating.

“Alright,” she said with a laugh. “Why don’t you look online? You know, on one of those dating sites. Maybe you can find someone there? Even if it’s just to have a little fun.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” you said shaking your head. “That’s kind of weird, no? Like I’m just supposed to feel a connection to someone simply by seeing their picture?”

“Well not exactly,” Nat jumped in. “See you write down your interests, so the site matches you with people who are into the same things.”

“Oh,” you said starting to consider making yourself a profile. It wouldn’t hurt to try, you thought.

“And I mean, maybe you don’t find your future husband, but maybe you find a few nice guys you get to hang out with,” Nat said. She leaned a bit forward on the table giving you a reassuring smile. “And you don’t have to accept to go out with anyone if you don’t want to. Just because you match with someone doesn’t mean you’ll have to meet.”

“Well,” you began. Your thoughts raced hoping this wouldn’t be as bad as you had originally thought. “I mean, I guess I could give it a try,” you smiled.

“Great!” Wanda said a bit too loud causing those around you to look your way. “Sorry,” she said, her hands up in an apologetic gesture. “We can build your profile right now!”

You were starting to question how they would be able to do that, but all your questions were answered as she pulled out a laptop from her bag.

“You guys planned this, didn’t you?” you said. You stared at them, piercing your eyes to let them know you were clearly suspicious of them.

“We just hoped you’d agree,” Nat said with a shrug. “We didn’t just invite you out for coffee for this. We really did want to hang out.”

“Fine,” you said with mock anger. “I’ll choose to believe you ONLY because you paid for my coffee and because you have graciously accepted to also buy me lunch.

“I didn’t,” she replied. “That was not a par-“

“Ok!” Wanda cut her off. “The first question says to describe yourself.”

“Let’s see,” you said, surprised at how fast she had pulled up the page. Knowing her, though, she had probably already saved it on her laptop for easy access. “I love to read and die for candy, another treat Nat has offered to buy me.”

“Ok. Sexy, well read, and loves the sweeter things in life,” Wanda said as she typed the description onto your profile.

“Much better,” you said with a chuckle.

“Favorite place?” Wanda asked.

“Um.. Oh! The small community garden that’s right by my place. It has this cute bench right by a patch of flowers.”

“Really?” Nat asked. “It can be anywhere in the world. Paris, Hawaii, the Grand Canyon?”

“Nope,” you said as you pictured the bench you were talking about, a smile appearing on your lips at the peace sitting there usually brought. It had a great view of this patch of colorful flowers. If your sat at the perfect spot, you could pretend it wasn’t only a patch, but a meadow that extended as far as your eye could see. “Just the little bench in that garden.”

“What do you think of dogs?” Wanda asked after having typed your response.

“Love,” you replied quickly.

“Cats?”

“Love.”

“Fish?”

“Love”

“Turtles?”

“No opinion,” a serious tone suddenly overtook your voice. Nat and Wanda both turned to you with a confused look. “They’re condescending,” you said nonchalantly.

“Ok” Wanda said with amusement. “Describe your ideal man.”

“Oh gosh. I mean, mysterious.”

“Mhmm,” Nat nodded in agreement as she took another sip of her coffee.

“Funny, intelligent, kind, caring, great listener, not afraid to show emotion or of commitment, handsome, romantic, can build stuff, doesn’t mind getting caught in the rain, can row a boat.”

“You’re just describing Noah Calhoun from The Notebook,” Wanda snorted.

“Mmm,” you said with a smile. “I mean if this thing,” you said pointing at the computer, “can find me a Noah Calhoun then I might just kiss it.”

“Who’s this poor Noah guy?” an intruding male voice caused you all to look behind you. “And can I just tell him how sorry I am that he might be stuck with you? It’s the least I can do for the guy.”

You rolled your eyes as you realized Bucky was the one speaking. The two of you had met thanks to your mutual friend Steve and had never gotten along. He was so full of himself, thinking he was high and mighty and could get whatever he wanted. His cocky attitude had instantly caused you to suppress voicing some of your strongest opinions on him for Steve’s sake. You were still unsure of how he and Steve could be friends. Steve was so kind and sweet, and Bucky was the embodiment of all your pet peeves and then some.

Pulling up a chair from the table next to you, he took a seat next to Wanda, who thankfully immediately closed her laptop before Bucky could see what you had been working on.

“Hi Nat,” Bucky flashed a smile to the red head who responded with a quick hello. “Wanda,” he said, playfully bumping his shoulder with hers.

“Hi Buck,” Wanda responded.

After being invited to a get together at Steve’s place, Bucky had met both Nat and Wanda. Neither of your friends had found Bucky as off putting as you had made him out to be. They accompanied you ready to hate Bucky’s guts as much as you did, but left chatting about how funny and interesting he was. You had rolled your eyes telling them once they saw him as many times as you had, they would be singing a different tune. Unfortunately for you, though, that had not happened just yet. On the contrary, Bucky seemed to charm them more every time.

“So why are you trying to ruin this guy’s day, Y/N?”

“Shut it Barnes,” you snapped back at him. “You’re rudely interrupting a conversation, by the way, so why don’t you just leave us alone.”

“Ouch,” he said, mockingly placing a hand over his heart. “And here I was thinking you’d be happy to see me, doll.”

“I doubt you’ll ever get that reaction from me. I’ve already had enough of you to last two lifetimes.”

“Did you get dressed in the dark?” he asked, pointing at your clothes, which you had hastily thrown on.

“Shut up,” you replied, an edge to your voice only he was able to bring out. “It’s not like you’re much of a fashion expert.”

“Maybe,” he chuckled as he raised an eyebrow, unbothered by your evident unhappiness with his presence. “But even I know those colors clash. Anyway,” he said directing his gaze to Nat. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Nothing much,” she replied with a slight smile. “Just planning our day.”

You looked over at her, hoping she could sense the waves of gratitude you were trying to telepathically send her way, for not letting Bucky know about your online profile. He would surely tease you about it until you pulled your hair out.  
“Well, if you guys are interested there’s this new photo gallery one of my buddies just opened up. He asked me to invite all the cool people I know, so sorry Y/N, but this invitation is just for Nat and Wanda,” a smirk you wish you could punch away spread across his lips. You stared back at him with a deathly glare mentally willing him to just disappear. He just had this way of getting under your skin with anything he said or did. He could be standing half a mile away from you, looking in the opposite direction, and he would still manage to piss you off.

‘Whatever’, you mouthed as you rolled your eyes at him.

“It opens tonight at 8,” he said as he (finally) began standing up and handed a small flyer to Wanda. “And you know what? I’ll be nice and also extend the invitation to you Y/N. Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you,” he said with a wink; a very stupid and irritating wink.

“We’ll be there,” Nat said with a laugh. For some reason she always found Bucky’s attitude towards you humorous. You looked at her incredulously, taking back all the gratitude you had sent her way before.

“Awesome,” he said. “Look forward to seeing two of you tonight.”

With that he turned and walked out the coffee place.

“You did not just accept an invitation from that idiot!” You glared at Nat, who continued to laugh.

“I did,” she finally said after managing to control her laughter.

“Wanda!” you said looking for back up. “Surely you see the evil I’m trying to fight off.”

She chuckled, “Y/N, he’s a just an idiot around you and he did invite you too at the end.”

You crossed your arms across your chest.

“You two can have fun at this lame photo exhibit because you can forget about me going. I don’t think I’ll be able to pretend to get along with him at a public function.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Nat said, waving her hands as if that could easily dismiss your hatred towards Bucky. “Let’s finish up your profile.”

“Yes!” Wanda said, having seemingly forgotten about it thanks to Bucky. “I just have to upload your info and a picture.”

After taking out her phone, she and Nat helped you take a nice picture, helping you find your best angle and arranging your hair the most flattering way. You approved a picture, and Wanda uploaded it to your profile.

“Now, you can start looking through a few profiles or you can wait until the system finds you someone they think might be a good match.”

“Lets just start looking,” you leaned forward to get a better look at the computer screen.

“Wait!” Wanda yelled, startling both Nat and you.

“What is it?” Nat asked a bit worried at Wanda’s sudden exclamation.

“You got a match!” Wanda said, all but bouncing up and down on her seat.

“Really?!?” you said a bit too excitedly; something that did not go unnoticed by Nat who chuckled.

“Oh my god,” Wanda continued reaching out for your hand. “It’s a 98% match! That’s a soulmate level match. I’ve never seen anything this high before.”

You squealed unable to hold back your excitement. What if this online dating site actually guided you to your perfect match. Maybe you really were about to find your own Noah Calhoun.

“This computer might’ve actually just found the future Mr. Y/L/N,” Nat said.

“Who is he!?” you asked scanning the screen and not seeing any information on him.

“Click right here,” Wanda said pointing to a small red box in the center of the screen. “That will take you to his profile.”

Nat gave you a drumroll by banging her hands on the table as you moved the cursor to the little red box.

After a pause for dramatic effect, you gave the box a click.

“Ah!” you recoiled as Nat and Wanda double over besides you with laughter.

Staring right back at you was a picture of a man, leaning on a motorcycle, wearing a black leather jacket. He looked off to one side, trying to make this clearly posed picture look like a candid shot. His eyes were too familiar, despite them looking to one side, his voice already nagging in your mind.

His name was written across the top of the page, in bold black letters, mocking you.

**JAMES BARNES.**

This HAD to be a joke.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter!! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

This could not be happening. Who in their right mind would think you and Bucky, of all 7 billion people on this planet, would be a good match? And not just any match, SOULMATE FUCKING LEVEL MATCH!!!!

You turned to see your friends still doubled over in laughter. Your mind raced, reaching what you thought could be the only plausible cause for this.

It was a prank.

Your friends knew your tense situation with Bucky. These jerks probably thought it would be funny to set all this up to see how you would react. Their plan getting even better as he suddenly had decided to barge in your conversation. Well, you hoped they had prepared for the show you were about to give them. So much for being the most level-headed one.

“You two,” you glared at them as they continued laughing. Wanda even reaching a hand up to her eyes to wipe away her tears. “You think this is funny?”

“No,” Nat said, her voice breathless from not being able to catch her breath before speaking. “This is hilarious!”

“You set this up, didn’t you? You guys know how much I can’t stand that cocky, arrogant, son of a –”

“Hey!” Wanda interrupted before you got the satisfaction of speaking your mind. “We didn’t, I swear. How would we be able to get the system to do that?”

“Yeah,” Nat spoke up, finally getting her laughter under control. “Your love connection to Barnes is just too strong we couldn’t fake it even if we tried.”

“Oh quiet! You mean this stupid site actually thinks we’re a good match?” you slumped back into your chair.

“Wrong again, my dear,” Nat said, a smirk appearing on her lips and if you had felt the need to punch a similar smirk off Bucky’s face you were feeling it again, maybe even stronger this time around. “A perfect match.”

“That’s it!” You said pulling the laptop closer, quickly scrolling down before you got a second look at Bucky’s irrationally irritating picture. You moved over the cursor to the link you were suddenly desperately needing to open. “Here it is,” you whispered to yourself as you found their Customer Service number.

“What are you doing?” Nat said as you pulled out your phone from your purse and dialed the number. You held up a finger, letting her know now was not exactly the best moment to ask questions.

“This is Craig at whosyourmate.com. How can I help you?” came a male’s voice through the phone. His tone was friendly, but in your state of mind everything and everyone seemed annoying.

“Craig,” your voice perfectly matched the level of annoyance you were currently feeling. Nat and Wanda looked on in confusion as your conversation with Craig went on. “Your service is crap.”

“Can you be more specific?” Craig replied, a phrase he had most likely been trained to say when he dealt with crazy customers. It was neutral, maybe even thought to be calming. Yeah, you were aware you were being crazy, but Craig and his services had matched you with Bucky. The one person on this planet you could not stand. So, being crazy, ironically, seemed to be the most logical response.

“Yes,” you continued, “your soul-mate match was totally wrong for me.”

From the corner of your eye you saw Nat rolling her eyes as Wanda mouthed Oh my god, their second-hand embarrassment clearly visible as they let their eyes wander around the room, taking note of whoever was also witnessing your outburst.

“I mean, I don’t even like him as a friend,” you went on, ignoring your friends’ reactions. “He’s like an annoying neighbor you can’t move away from, who purposely leaves dog shit on your front door just to ruin your day.”

“We have a very sophisticated algorithm that’s paired a thousand of couples,” said Craig, you could practically hear his eyes rolling, however impossible that was. “I actually met my wife on the site.”

You felt your temper rising. How could Craig think you and Bucky could be compared to him and his wife! That wouldn’t only imply an actual romantic connection with the only man in the world who took more time on his hair than a pageant queen, but also a possible marriage! You couldn’t even talk to the Bucky without wanting to punch him in the face. There was no way you could ever even begin to think about Bucky in a romantic way.

“Really? You met your wife on this site?” you said unable to control the words that came out of your mouth. “Well, that’s not gonna last.”

“Ok,” Nat said grabbing the phone from your hand. “Sorry Craig,” she said into the phone. “My friend here is not being the most rational. I’m sure she doesn’t mean what she just said. I’ll be sure to let her know what she did was wrong.”

“Your marriage is a sham, Craig!” you tried to say into the phone, but Nat quickly hung up the call after another quick apology to Craig.

“Jesus,” Nat began. “All this because a silly site matched you with Bucky?”

You groaned, knowing you were overreacting.

“How many people are on that site and their highly sophisticated algorithm,” you said in a mock tone, “Just happened to match me and that idiot?”

“Well maybe their algorithm can see past what you can,” Wanda said with a smile as she quirked her eyebrow, knowing very well her statement would get a reaction out of you.

“Please!” you said not knowing what to do with your hands as you became increasingly uncomfortable with the picture Craig and his sham marriage had planted in your head. “As if a series of ones and zeros can know more about the complete ass Bucky is than me, someone who has had the misfortune of actually spending time with him.”

“Then don’t make such a big deal if its just a silly series of ones and zeros. I mean, Y/N, you questioned the integrity of a marriage! What if Craig goes home and breaks the heart of who is probably a lovely woman because of the doubts he now has thanks to your call,” Wanda continued, causing Nat to chuckle.

You hid behind your hands knowing Wanda was exaggerating but still feeling guilty at your comments to Craig. Poor guy probably had to deal with dozens of people like you. And his wife WAS probably lovely.

Suddenly a thought crossed your mind that had your palms turning cold.

“Shit,” you said still from behind your hands. “Shit, shit, shit!!!”

“What now?” Nat groaned. “Want to call another customer service line and make them question their life choices?”

“No!” you said as you put your hands down, dramatically hitting the table as the thought you had sent chills up your spine. “Oh my god! Do you think Bucky will also get alerted that we somehow, reasons still unknown, got matched on this stupid site?!”

Wanda’s jaw dropped as she heard what you said. Nat, simply began to laugh once again, seemingly happy at being able to mock your misery a second time.

“Wanda! Tell me he will never find out about this!! PLEASE!!”

“I don’t know!” she replied. Her voice laced with more worry now that she seemed to be understanding just how humiliating Bucky knowing would be.

“Wanda, this was your idea!! You have to know!!”

“Well I don’t!” she said grabbing her laptop and looking through the site for possible answers. “I mean they had a FAQ page but I can’t find anything about how their notifications work.

“Call Craig again,” Nat suggested. “And while you’re at it, ask if he and his wife plan on having children, maybe Y/N can talk him out of that too if they are.”

“Natasha, shut up,” you snapped back, pulling out your phone again.

Your call never went through, maybe Craig had been offended to the point of having the customer service line block your number or maybe the universe was simply plotting against you maintaining your sanity. After a few failed attempts from Wanda and Nat’s phone, you gave up.

“You know,” came Nat’s voice, who at this point you were frankly over hanging out with. “You could just ask him tonight at the photo gallery thing he invited us.”

“You’re not serious,” you said, glancing her way with clear disgust across your face.

What did she expect you to say to Bucky?

Hey, I know we’ve always hated each other but did you happen to see the soulmate level match we got on whosyourmate.com? or maybe Nice gallery, anyway we might be soulmates, have you heard anything about that?

 

He would surely laugh at your face and never let you forget how much an idiot this site had made of you.

“You are going to have to face him eventually. I mean, unless you’re ok with not seeing Steve either. Those two are practically attached at the hip. Also start saying goodbye to Sam,” Nat retorted.

“Yeah, ok, I get it,” you responded, running your hands across your face in frustration. If only you had stuck with your gut and never made that profile. Then you wouldn’t have to even consider cutting Steve out of your life. You knew that was out of the question. Steve was a great friend and losing him seemed like way too much of a sacrifice to make simply because Bucky had been matched with you. “Fine!” you concluded, needing to stop overthinking things, “I’ll go to that gallery thing and if I have to punch him I will.”

“Amazing,” Nat said with a mocking chuckle.

“You know, you’re supposed to be on my side,” you said to her.

“Oh, I am,” she replied. “You might just land yourself a Mr. Y/L/N who knows just how to get under your skin. They do say there is only one step between love and hate. Just imagine all the passionate love making you’ll be having.”

You dry heaved, unable to control your natural reaction to even thinking about that.

“That’s disgusting and will never happen. I will first marry Craig and then consider anything with Bucky.”

“Craig is happily married,” Wanda said, clicking her tongue.

“Not after my call, remember? You vividly pictured the breaking up of his marriage.”  
–

Hours later you found yourself in front of the mirror once again. This time liking what you were wearing a lot more than the outfit you had haphazardly thrown on in the morning. The outfit Bucky had happily pointed out as he made sure to ruin the great morning you were having with your friends.

A groan escaped from your mouth at the thought of the night that awaited you. Bucky could either already be aware of the site’s clearly mistaken match it had made for the two of you. If this scenario played out, you would have to defend yourself from his guaranteed teasing. You knew he would be aware of how much the match had bothered you and he would do anything to use that against you. Or, he could not know of the match and you could just try to enjoy the photo gallery while still having to deal with Bucky’s overwhelmingly annoying presence. Maybe even try to figure out why the website had ever thought of pairing you two together.

With a sigh, silently sending out a supplication of mercy to the universe, you smoothed out your outfit, as ready as you could ever be to face the mess your online profile had created in its short life.


	3. Chapter 3

“Have a good night,” the uber driver said as Nat, Wanda, and you stepped out of her car in front of the photo gallery. 

“Thank you, you too,” replied Wanda, closing the door. 

“This is going to be the worst,” you groaned picturing exactly how terrible the night was going to go. You would either be humiliated or annoyed. Neither seemed at all desirable. 

With a smile all three of you greeted the man at the door. You quickly had to plaster the smile on your face to attempt to hide your lack of enthusiasm. Being the opening of the gallery, it seemed only a handful of people had been invited, and now everybody arriving had to state their names at the door in order to get in. 

“Your names please,” the man stated, checking his list after you stated your names. His brows furrowed, and an uneasy feeling spreading from the pit of your stomach made the fake smile you had begin to falter. “I only have Wanda and Natasha, no Y/N,” he looked apologetically towards you.

Of fucking course. Bucky “The Tool” Barnes just had to mess with you. You hadn’t expected the humiliation to begin so early in the night. Could it be that he did know about the match and decided to make your evening miserable from the beginning?

“No, check again, please,” Wanda said, “James invited us. All three of us.”

“Sorry, miss. But I don’t have a Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Forget it,” you said, not up to dealing with Bucky and his immature and idiotic games. “I’m leaving.” You would just face him some other time, one where you didn’t have to jump through so many pointless hoops set up by who Craig was sure was your soulmate. Poor Craig, guy had spoken to you for mere minutes and you still cursed his name. 

“No wait,” Nat called out, grabbing your arm, and bringing you back to the door. “Let me see the list,” she reached her hand towards the list only to be met by the firm head shake from the man holding it. “Fine,” she obliged, “just read out the names, then, if you can’t share your incredibly valuable list. Who’s on it?”

“You two,” he said pointing at Nat and Wanda, his annoyance with the situation more apparent. “You can just walk on in there.”

“Yeah, we’ll do that,” Nat snapped back. “But with our friend who’s also on the list.”

“I already told you her na—”

“Just read the list,” Nat said with a tone of voice you’d heard before. You’d seen women and men stop in their tracks because of that harsh tone her voice sometimes took on. One that clearly said you should just do as she says because she would come out on top any way. She had used it on you just once to get you out of bed early on a Sunday morning after a terrible breakup. You had been in a funk for too many days and she took it upon herself to start making you feel better. After a day of pampering, you had seen how that tone could bring goodness as well as fear. 

“Fine,” the man (wisely) succumbed to Nat’s request. “Mary Aalto and her plus one, would you look at that! No Y/N,” he let his eyes widen as if he was truly surprised. “Bruce Banner, also known as not Y/N. James Barnes, also known as not Y/N.”

“That joke stopped being funny even before you said it the first time,” Nat rolled her eyes and you felt as your arms subconsciously wrapped around your middle, the embarrassment of it all beginning to affect your body language.

“He didn’t put me on the list Nat,” you said hoping she could just drop it and you could go back home. It was things like this that made it clear there could never be any type of connection with Bucky. He was an ass. Someone who liked to see people uncomfortable. “I’m just gonna go home. This was clearly a set up and I fell right into his little game.” Turning to Wanda you said, “Still think those little ones and zeros know more about Bucky than I do?” 

“Just keep reading,” Nat told the man, whose name, you realized, you still didn’t know. 

“Noah Calhoun and his plus one, also known a—"

“Ha!” Nat interrupted, fiercely tapping the list with her pointer finger. You groaned understanding what Bucky had done. “It’s a joke! See my friend here is Noah Calhoun’s plus one!”

“Then where’s Noah Calhoun?” the man asked, not buying what Nat was saying.

“He’s a character from a movie,” Nat replied, the bite in her voice back. “It’s an inside joke.”

“Look, its Bucky!” Wanda suddenly shouted as she pointed towards the inside of the gallery where Bucky stood clearly laughing. “Just ask him!”

Hate was a strong word, you knew that. But you didn’t think anyone could say you were exaggerating when you said you hated Bucky. Even if he didn’t know about the match, he thought arranging this embarrassing situation was humorous. 

“Is there a problem here?” Bucky asked, stepping out from the gallery, with a faux serious tone that was completely defeated by the large grin he sported.

“The young lady is saying she’s Noah Calhoun’s plus one. Her name isn’t on the list and that’s the excuse she’s giving to get in.”

“Aw, Noah couldn’t make it out tonight, Y/N?” Bucky asked you. Only making his face more irritating by adding another one of his stupid winks to the end of his sentence. 

“I hate you,” you simply stated causing him to laugh. 

“Its alright, Rick,” he said patting the man, Rick you now knew, on the shoulder, “I can confirm she’s Noah’s plus one. She’s good.”

“Then alright, enjoy your night,” Rick stepped aside and let you all into the gallery, flashing Nat a fake smile, clearly still annoyed with her. 

Bucky let Nat and Wanda step in first, staying behind to walk beside you, still eager to make your night as torturous as he could. 

“Can I take your coat?” he asked, extending his hand to hang your coat on the coatrack that stood beside the door. His question caught you by surprise. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of the enormous mistake whosyourmate.com had made. “Power back on at your place?” he asked with a teasing smirk as he saw the outfit you had on underneath your coat, alluding to the comment he had made in the morning. 

“You know, it wouldn’t kill you to not be such an ass all the time,” you said, stepping in front of him and hanging your coat on your own.

“Come on,” he chuckled, dropping his hand, “that was funny. You know, after I left the coffee place,” Oh god here it came. He got the notification. He would most likely laugh in your face for getting a soulmate level match with him, “I realized Noah is that one guy from the movie. The one with the kissing and the rain.”

“Well congrats, genius,” you rolled your eyes as you mockingly applauded him, your heart calming down after his sentence had taken on a completely different, yet welcomed, direction than the one you were anticipating. “How on earth did you manage to figure out that complex and unsolvable mystery? And no, that wasn’t funny, it was embarrassing.”

“Oh please, you need a thicker skin,” he pinched your arm, “It was an innocent prank. See you’re inside; no harm no foul.”

He didn’t seem to know, you figured. If he had known it would be almost guaranteed to have already come up as Bucky, clearly, never passed up an opportunity to make your life harder than it should be. 

“I’m already regretting coming,” you said.

The atmosphere of the gallery was peaceful. A few people had already arrived and were chatting amongst themselves while sipping on champagne. The warm lights that illuminated the images created a cozy and comfortable ambiance. Soft music played from speakers that seemed to be sprinkled throughout the gallery. 

“Well aren’t you a delight,” he said, shooting a condescending glance your way. “My pal is actually pretty talented. I can bet there’s an image in here that you’ll like. No, not like, love. Here, let me show you around.”

You both started walking towards the first image of the gallery, where you met Nat and Wanda who had also gathered around it. Both girls sported a smirk you knew was plastered on their face because of what they knew about your current situation.

“Oh god and what expertise will you bring to the table, Bucky? There’s more to photography than Instagram filters, you know,” you said as you rolled your eyes.

“Actually Bucky,” Nat began with a gleam of mischief in her eyes, interrupting the remark Bucky was preparing to reply to your comment with. You shot her a death glare hoping she would just swallow whatever words were coming up next. “Y/N here has never been to a photo gallery, so despite her groveling she’d love a guided tour.”

“I actually wouldn’t,” you deadpanned. “I don’t need his endless useless commentary right by my ear all night.”

“Useless?” Bucky said as he sent Natasha a wide grin. “I actually helped organize the gallery. I’m a pro at this so don’t worry ladies,” he looked to Nat and Wanda, “I’ll pass on all my knowledge to your little friend here.”

“Oh please, ‘helped organize’ is a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?” you scoffed. “Let me guess, you were in charge of music,” you said as you made air quotes with your fingers, “so you connected your phone to the Bluetooth speaker? Is your spotify playlist the one responsible for the elevator music playing here? So much planning Bucky. I’m impressed.” 

“First of all,” Bucky replied, tilting his head to one side, a clear look of distaste for your comments across his features, “that’s classic jazz. It’s not my fault your clearly uncultured self, can’t recognize good music. Sorry for not playing the trash you listen to. Maybe if I ever help organize a dumpster fire, I’ll ask you for music recommendations. Second of all, no I did not just help with the music. I set up the place, its meant to tell a story.” 

“I’m the uncultured one?” you asked in disbelief, choosing to ignore the last part of his rant. “You scratched your back with a fork at Steve’s last dinner party and then ATE with it.”

“That’s just being practical,” he replied with a shrug. “Besides this isn’t my first photo gallery, sweetheart. But, oh, would you look at that, it appears this IS your first. Too busy running away from culture?”

“The fact that this is my first gallery means nothing. At least I’m not the one who searches YouTube for Jersey Shore episodes.”

“I did that once.”

“You’re subscribed to a channel dedicated to uploading episodes, sweetheart,” you threw back his pet name. 

“I only subscribed so I wouldn’t lose a clip I wanted to show Steve. A clip that reminded me of you, actually.”

“Yeah right,” you replied. “You thought Kinky Boots was a shoe brand.” 

“How can I be blamed for that?”

“Somebody as cultured as you,” you said mockingly, “would know it’s a musical.”

“Yeah well, that still doesn’t take away from the fact that I set up this place. And since I did, you know it tells a better story than Kinky Shoes, or whatever.”

“Kinky Boots, you uncultured swine,” you corrected him. He glared your way at the name you included. 

“So, no tour?” Wanda asked shyly, suddenly reminding you that Wanda and Nat still stood besides you. 

“It would be my pleasure to infuse Y/N with a bit of knowledge of what it takes to set up a gallery,” Bucky replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm and a hint of joy at the thought he would most likely make you miserable. 

“Perfect!” Nat chimed in. “Have fun. Wanda and I know our way around a gallery so we’re fine.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” you said as you tried stepping away from Bucky who kept you in place by dropping his arm on your shoulders, a smug grin on his face. 

“Come here a sec, Y/N,” Wanda spoke up after sharing a knowing look with Nat. They had walked several feet away after trying to abandon you with Bucky.

Bucky removed his arm and you quickly made your way towards your “friends”. 

“Hurry back, Y/N. Tour starts in 2 minutes!” Bucky said behind you. 

“You know, I’m starting to hate you two,” you whispered hoping the anger you were feeling was not diminished by the low volume of your voice. “You just planned to leave me with him all night? Did I do something to you and now you feel the need to get back at me?”

“Quit being a drama queen,” Nat said. “He doesn’t seem to know about the site thing, right?”

You shook your head. It would’ve come up by now for sure if he had known.

“But aren’t you curious? I mean, out of all the people on that site, it decided to match you with him?”

“That site is trash,” you replied unable to think of another reason why you had been matched with Bucky. “Craig’s incredible algorithm is nothing more than a scam.”

“But what if it isn’t,” Nat quirked up her eyebrow. “Craig found love after all.”

“God! Just say whatever you’re getting at already,” you said, perhaps a little too loud. 

“Talk to him,” Wanda, overcompensating after your small outburst, said and you strained to hear her. “Try to figure out what the system saw between both of you. Maybe you learn something new.”

Unable to hold it back you let out a loud laugh that again caused most of those attending the gallery to turn in your direction, their eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“How many drinks have you had?” you asked them, talking through the laugh you still couldn’t control. “Bucky is annoying, has always been annoying, and will always be annoying. There’s nothing new to learn.”

“If you’re so sure then why are you hesitating so much?” Nat asked. “If there’s nothing new to learn then just talk to him and then rub it in our faces at the end of the night.”

“Will that finally shut both of you up?”

“Yes,” they both replied in unison.

“And erase that smirk off both your faces?”

“Uhuh,” Nat said as she nodded her head.

“Then fine, I’ll take Bucky’s pathetic guided tour of the place. Watch me learn nothing new. Oh, and prepare for my gloating at the end of the night.”

“Fine,” Nat said as you walked away from them and back to Bucky.

The time had finally come to end this entire thing, because you and the heavens knew a love connection between you and Bucky was definitely not happening. Time to prove your idiot friends, Craig, and anybody else who doubted you, wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I wasn't able to post this yesterday and keep my daily-posting goal lol... but its finals week :(. But here it is!! I hope you guys like it!

There was something running through your body that you could not quite place. Maybe it was the need to finally shut both of your friends up. Or, a more plausible option, it was the dread of having to spend the night with Bucky. Part of you kept hoping he would pull one of his trademark douche moves, and just ditch you before his “tour” began. 

A genuine smile spread on your lips as you noticed Steve had joined Bucky where he was still waiting, in front of the first image of the gallery. 

“Hi Steve,” you greeted him with a hug. He looked dashing, but to be honest when didn’t he look just downright gorgeous? He wore a blue button-down shirt that brought out the cool tone of his eyes and was .2 seconds from ripping at the seams thanks to his enormous biceps. His blonde hair was swept to one side, leaving his face clear from any stray hairs. The same could not be said about Bucky, who’s hair despite being tied back in a manbun, had stubborn strands draping in front of his face. 

“Hey Y/N, nice to see you. You look great,” he complimented you with a warm smile. 

Why couldn’t the algorithm match you with someone like Steve? A kind and gentle soul who treated everybody with love and respect. He was an amazing guy, and you had never seen him as anything but a friend, yet the thought still lingered. Would you be able to find someone as sweet and kind as him or would you be destined to be with a rude and obnoxious jerk like Bucky? Craig’s algorithm was currently not tipping the balance in your favor. 

“You ready?” Bucky interjected, flicking his eyes between you and Steve.

“No,” you replied with a serious tone making sure he understood how much spending any amount of extended time with him pained you. 

“What’s happening here?” Steve asked with a grin, his eyebrows quirked up in amusement. “Are you two finally playing nice? Can I stop planning around your constant bickering?”

“Don’t be too optimistic Rogers. I doubt your buddy here will ever stop being an ass.”

Bucky scoffed, his eyes rolling comically to make his opinion on your statement even more apparent. “I’m trying to help you here and you still call me an ass? What do I have to do to get you to at least stop insulting me for an hour?” 

“Stop being an ass should do the trick,” you said, throwing in a wink. “And I wouldn’t call this ‘helping me’. If anything, you’ll drive me away from ever coming back to another gallery.”

“See,” Bucky looked to Steve. “I offer to provide some of my insightful behind-the-scenes knowledge of the gallery to her, a gallery newbie, and she treats me like this.”

“What can I say, pal,” Steve chuckled lightly. “You do have a lot of ass-like behavior to make up for.” 

“You don’t even know what he made me go through tonigh—”

“Ok!” Bucky interrupted. “Steve enjoy your night,” he waved him away, “Maybe you can spend it with Nat and Wanda. And you,” he pointed towards you, “let’s get this over with.”

“You don’t have to do this Barnes,” you said, and you swore there was a lightbulb over your head flashing on as an idea popped into your mind. Maybe you could drive him away before this even began. “I am more than capable of looking at a few pictures on my own. Maybe Steve can help me.”

“Shouldn’t be too big a deal,” Steve shrugged sending another gentle smile your way. 

“No,” Bucky said, almost too quickly. “We’re doing this now. Bye Steve.”

“Ok then,” Steve laughed as he put up his hands in surrender. 

Out of all days, Bucky chose today to keep his promises. 

“Have fun, you two. I hope I’m in no way implicated in whatever murder happens here tonight,” Steve continued to laugh as he walked away in search of Nat and Wanda. 

“Ok,” Bucky began, he took a deep breath as if preparing for something major. “This here is a photograph –”

“Wow!” you faked amazement. “I would’ve spent all night unable to figure out what I was looking at if it weren’t for you.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” he said through gritted teeth. His usually sharp jawline accentuated even more as he tensed it. “You need to listen a little in order for this to work.”

“Fine,” you conceded. 

“So, as I was saying this is a photograph of a waterfall. Without looking at the label, can you tell me where it is?”

You suppressed your first instinct to peek at the artwork label that hung at the right side of the image. Your eyes scanned the image hoping to find any clue that would shed some light on the location of the waterfall. The water flowed over what looked to be an artificial wall covered in oversized and mismatched blocks of concrete, the sunlight soft. Green shrubbery framed the image and the waterfall making the white of the rushing water stand out. At the bottom, blue and pink flowers bloomed bringing in a hint of color and making this location seem even more paradisiacal. The point of view of the image made the waterfall seem to exist on its own, as if nothing existed beyond it. Everything seemed to begin and end with this waterfall. Wherever this place was, you hoped it wasn’t too expensive to get there because it sure had caught your eye. You could almost feel the cooling breeze that would emit from the waterfall; something that could surely help any bit of stress ease away. 

“I don’t know,” you said, noting how the previous interaction with Bucky had all but left your system. The annoyance making way to a much more relaxed you. “But I hope its not too long a trip to get there because it seems amazing.”

“It sure is,” Bucky said, his voice also taking on a calmer tone. “And lucky for you, you could probably be there tonight.”

“Where is it?” you asked, still keeping your eyes away from the label. 

“It’s a place called Greenacre Park. Kudos to you for not cheating. And its right here in New York. Midtown to be exact.”

“This is right here?” you asked incredulously, your pointer finger rising on its own to point at the image. 

“Yes,” Bucky chuckled, “See, you can learn something from me when you’re not being a brat.”

“And the peace is gone,” you sighed.

“Alright alright,” he said with a smile. “I’ll play nice. Next image.”

“Who is this friend of yours? I’d like to meet the photographer.”

“Oh,” his voiced was laced with surprise. “I’ll introduce him to you once we’re done.”

“Is he here, now? I mean I wouldn’t mind meeting him now.”

“Of course, he’s here. It’s the opening of his gallery,” he said, eyes scanning the room. “Not sure where, but we’ll find him eventually. Anyway, the gallery is set up in a sort of spiral fashion. You look at the images along the outer walls first and then make your way towards the center of the room following the images on the makeshift walls we set up. Let’s see if you catch on to why its arranged like this.”

You observed the way the room was set up. The walls that lined the right, left, and back of the room housed a few images. Towards the front of the room, by the door you had entered from, stood a sort of entry way that resembled the beginning of a maze. These were the makeshift walls that Bucky was referring to. They apparently followed a spiraling pattern and more photographs, that you could not see yet, hung from them. The showpiece of the gallery, Bucky explained, could be seen once you reached the very center of the room.  
“I’m sure its not very hard to figure out seeing as you are the mastermind behind it, right?”

“I’m being nice, you brat,” he reminded you, a teasing smile paying on his lips. 

“Five minutes of niceness and I’m supposed to be your best friend?” you teased back. 

“You could try,” he laughed. “You wouldn’t die, you know.”

“Hey congrats, man,” a short-haired man interrupted. He clapped Bucky’s back as he spoke. “This was amazing.”

“Oh thanks, Quill,” Bucky answered, quickly walking away from the conversation.  
“Did you announce to the whole city you supposedly helped plan this thing? Wanted your ego stroked a bit, did we now Bucky?”

“Maybe,” he defended with mock offense. “And I didn’t allegedly plan this thing, I really did plan it out.”

He walked you both over to the next image and asked you to keep your eyes off the label again. You quickly understood that every image was of a spot in New York that wasn’t as known as other more traditional sights in the city. You had discovered an abandoned hospital that you had at first thought to be a European castle. Bucky had chuckled as you had firmly given him your guess for what the image was showing, infusing his response with less of his traditional jerk flare than you had expected. An image of a bridge seemingly ending in what looked like a forest, followed. That bridge was apparently located in Harlem, connecting that area of the city to the Bronx. Surprisingly there was also an image of a portion of the Berlin Wall, tucked a few streets away from the Museum of Modern Art. 

And although all the images had been beautiful, something you happened to mention to Bucky when you asked again to meet the photographer, you audibly gasped at the image you were standing in front of now. You had begun to make your way towards the center of the spiral, now observing the photographs that lined the makeshift walls. 

“Like this one?” Bucky asked from beside you. 

You nodded, unable to form words. In front of you was a beautiful image of what appeared to be a train station. The tracks curved toward the left on one side of the image, disappearing behind a wall that bent along the curvature of the tracks. This curved line drew your eyes to the furthest part of the image only to be drawn back out as you followed the lights that hung from the ceiling. The ceiling was also curved, green and cream tiles decorated the arches on the ceiling creating a beautiful frame for the center piece of the image; a beautiful skylight. Glass tiles littered the skylight. Thick black lines created a puckered diamond shape in the center of each panel. The sunset lighting seeping in from the exterior made this place seem mystical, as if it was from a world that could only exist in your dreams. The chandeliers that hung for the ceiling only emphasized this mystic aura, giving the room a sort of charm that seemed classic and elegant. 

You let your eyes dance a bit more around the image finally succumbing to the curiosity and letting them glance at the label. 

Old City Hall Station, NY. 

“This place looks straight out of a movie,” you said, your eyes returning to the image. 

“Right?” Bucky replied, his eyes not on the image but on you. A small smile on his lips as he noticed how drawn in you were. 

“How do I get there?” you asked turning to face him, surprised to find him already looking at you.

“Not sure,” he replied with a small shrug. “Guess we’d have to ask my friend. Any idea why I chose to organize the images like this?”

You had understood the theme behind all the images, yet you didn’t know what kind of ‘story’ they were supposed to tell. Bucky had been entirely too proud as he had mentioned, multiple times, how the photographs had been arranged to form a narrative. 

Glancing back at the images you could not find another string connecting them other than them being somewhat hidden gems of New York. There were no people photographed, so you couldn’t trace a story line based on individuals. You searched your mind for anything that had stood out in all the photographs but came up short. 

“No, not a clue,” you admitted. 

A smug smirk spread on his lips and you rolled your eyes, knowing what was coming. 

“Thought you would’ve figured it out by now since not-so-bright Bucky organized it.”

“I never called you not-so-bright.”

“Maybe not tonight, but other times you’ve called me far worse.”

“You can’t deny you’ve deserved it. I mean who pulls stunts like the embarrassing one you made me go through tonight?”

A flash of red caught your eye as Bucky began his speech on how he had thought it would be funny to list you as Noah Calhoun’s plus one. A shocked Natasha and Wanda were walking toward you from the center of the room, most likely after seeing the centerpiece of the gallery. 

“Bucky!” Wanda interrupted his ongoing speech. “Wow. I mean, I thought I knew what to expect but I really don’t even know what to say.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Bucky said with a look you couldn’t quite place. 

“I mean, props to the photographer,” Nat chimed in. “He really knows his stuff. Loved the last photograph. Any chance I could buy it?”

“I don’t think its for sale,” Bucky replied, his tone too biting for such a quick interaction. 

“You sure? Maybe you could ask him? Have him think it over?”

“I’m sure it’s not for sale.”

“Ok,” she backed off, much to your surprise. “Enjoying the tour?” she asked you with a quirked eyebrow. Wanda let out a giggle beside her. 

You had forgotten about why you had agreed to spend your time at the gallery with Bucky. Natasha’s reminder brought back the image of Bucky being a great match for you, according to whosyourmate.com .

“It’s not as dreadful as I expected,” you replied honestly. Who knew Bucky could keep his jerk persona locked up for more than five minutes? 

“Huh,” Nat pretended to contemplate your answer. You knew very well she would rub it in your face if Bucky wasn’t standing right beside you. “Well we’re so glad you’re enjoying yourself. We’ll be chatting with Steve, take your time.”

“So,” Bucky said as Nat and Wanda walked away. “Want me to tell you or you want some more time to figure it out. You need to have it before we see the last image.” 

“So, there was a waterfall, a bridge, the Berlin Wall, a secret subway exit –”

“Oh god! You really are helpless,” Bucky chuckled as you glared at him. “Don’t think about the locations, the story isn’t there.”

You simply stared at him unable to come up with anything. 

“You’re such a rookie,” he said, giving a dramatic sigh as he led you to the next image. 

“I mean it can’t be that obscure if you came up with it,” you said. 

“Yeah, well you already said that and still haven’t figured it out.”

“Well maybe the gallery wasn’t as well-organized as you had imagined. If it had been, I would’ve gotten it by now.”

“Maybe the not-so-bright one is actually you and not me,” he snapped back.  
“Highly doubt that,” you replied. “You barely figured out a widely known movie reference.”

“Calhoun? Figured that out almost immediately. Even made him your plus one, didn’t I? Stop making this about me and just admit you’re lost and can’t even begin to understand what I did here.”

“I never understand what you do, Barnes. Your jerk-like mentality just doesn’t go well with mine.”

He scoffed, looking past you at a woman standing in front of the next image. As soon as she noticed his gaze, she turned toward him, a flirtatious look suddenly overtaking her eyes. 

“Hey there, James,” she greeted him, reaching out for a hug. He obliged and quickly gave her a side hug. It was always strange to hear him being called by his real name, seemed too mature for him. 

“Hi,” he said, eyes darting to you. “This is Y/N. Y/N this is Elle.”

“You look familiar,” she said towards you as you gave her a quick wave. Her eyes moving up and down your figure trying to place you.  
“Maybe you ran into her at that coffee place you like so much,” Bucky suggested. “She practically lives there too.”

She suddenly gasped, eyes going wide as a giant smile spread across her face. 

“Is everything ok?” you asked a bit worried. 

“Everything is fine,” Bucky once again interrupted. “Nice seeing you Elle. Thanks so much for coming. See ya around.”

He abruptly walked you past the image Elle had been standing by and you voiced your disapproval at skipping that image. If you were to figure out this “story” of his it was only fair he would let you see all the images. 

“The lighting,” he suddenly said, stopping in front of an image of cemetery surrounded by gothic architecture. “It’s nighttime here, see? It was morning in the first image and the lighting has shifted through all the images as if you’re traveling not only from place to place but also from morning to night.”

Everything fell into place. The soft light in the first image was due to it being morning time and as you went by, time did too in the images. The train station, for example, had been photographed at sunset, something you had actually noted when you observed the way the room appeared dream-like. And now, as you made your way to the end, it was nighttime in the images. 

“Now, this last image, you probably will immediately recognize but I still want you to look at the label. And quick question, what comes after night?”

“Morning,” you answered, understanding the images had taken you throughout an entire day in New York, ending at the same ‘time’ it had begun. 

You turned the last corner, finally reaching the end of the gallery and your heart dropped at the sight of the last image. 

For the first time, a silhouette of a person was present. The image had been taken from behind this person, who sat on a bench, looking out onto an incredibly familiar patch of flowers. Droplets of dew still remained on the leaves of the flowers, creating little sparkles as the morning sunlight hit them. Your eyes bounced from droplet to droplet, trying to wrap your mind around what you were seeing. 

The patch of flowers wasn’t just any patch of flowers. It was the patch of flowers that you knew and loved. The one you would walk to and observe when you needed a bit of peace. The one that seemed to drown out the busy and noisy atmosphere of the city and transported you to an imaginary and endless meadow. The one you referred to when asked what your favorite place in the world was. 

Your eyes went back to the person that sat on the bench, a figure that was all too recognizable. There you sat, on one of the many times you found yourself at the community garden by your house. The peace this patch of flowers brought to you clearly reflected on your face. Part of your features visible as you looked to the left. 

An image of you and your most beloved place in the world was the centerpiece of this gallery, a gallery made up of photographs taken by a still unknown photographer, something the people around you were also noticing as they glanced from you to the image and back again. 

In the back of your mind you heard Bucky’s request to look at the label despite already knowing where the photograph was taken. 

This time his name stared back at you not in large black letters, but in a small professional bold font. 

Photographs by James Barnes

Your hand shot up to cover your mouth. Bucky had been behind all the images? This was his gallery?!

And you had been sure nothing could surprise you more than what you had just discovered, but the words Bucky spoke next sent a chill up your spine surpassing all the chills you had already experienced as you enjoyed the photographs. 

“I think whosyourmate.com is onto something. Don’t you?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this part! Thanks so much for reading :)

“I think whosyourmate.com is onto something. Don’t you?”

This could not be happening.

Keeping up with the thoughts crossing your mind was impossible. You had not only discovered that a picture of you had been hung at a photo gallery, but you had also discovered that the photographer had been Bucky Barnes, a man you had surprisingly tolerated throughout the night. To make matters worse, he was aware of the match Craig and his stupid algorithm had mocked you with. Not only aware, though, he was agreeing with it?

You forced your eyes to peel away from the label hanging beside the photograph, willing them to look at Bucky who remained silent after his sudden declaration. 

His face was almost smug, as if enjoying the fact that he had caught you off guard. You felt your gaze shift from confusion to anger. Was this just another of his ‘funny’ pranks?

“You knew,” you found yourself saying. You didn’t speak above a whisper, though, still dealing with the attention the people around you were giving as they realized you were the one in the picture. 

“Course I knew,” Bucky whispered back, eyes also scanning the room mentally noting the people who were all failing miserably in their attempts to pretend not to be staring. “The app lets you know when it finds you a match.”

“You knew,” you repeated with a much harsher tone. 

You felt as the blood rushed to your face, heating it up in the process. You weren’t sure if it was due to the sudden anger you were feeling or because of the sudden need to run and hide from all the attention. The space you were in, feeling more and more constricting. Between the photograph behind you, the people surrounding you, and Bucky standing in front of you, it was all too much. 

“Yes,” Bucky confirmed yet again. “I knew.”

“Well, I’m glad you had fun tonight Bucky,” you snapped, “I’m glad I was able to provide you with a bit of entertainment. Now if you excuse me, I have to leave since I’m done being laughed at.”

You stepped around Bucky, rushing to get out of the gallery yet trying your best to not attract even more attention to yourself. Seemed like everybody in the gallery knew about your picture before you. As you made your way out of the spiral of photographs you caught a glimpse of Nat, Wanda, and Steve having a drink. The anger flaring up once more as you realized they had not even thought of giving you a heads-up. Nat and Wanda weren’t exactly some of your favorite people at the moment thanks to their constant nagging about the whole Bucky-match thing. Steve, though, you expected more from. You had at least expected a subtle heads-up. 

“Hey, Y/N,” you heard Bucky call out from behind you. 

You were nearing the coatrack by the entrance and his voice had caught the attention of your group of so-called friends, who all turned to observe what was occurring between you and Bucky. 

“Come on, don’t leave like this,” Bucky said as he stepped beside you. You rummaged through the coats hanging, unable to find your own. 

“I’ll do whatever I want, Barnes,” you replied, somehow still not seeing your coat. There weren’t even that many on the rack, your anger just caused all of them to look the same.

“Its right here,” he said as he extended his arm towards you, his hand holding your coat. 

You yanked it from his hands, quickly throwing it on. Nat and Wanda took this as their cue to approach you, seemingly ready to leave with you. Steve also approached you and Bucky, with a slower pace, though, falling behind the girls.

“Listen, I wasn’t laughing at you, so you can’t use that as an excuse to leave because it isn’t true.” 

Hearing this, the approaching trio, slowly turned towards the direction they had come from, quickly concluding this was a conversation for just you and Bucky. 

“You weren’t laughing?” you asked, eyes rolling as you scoffed. “Just randomly decided to throw up a picture of me at a gallery of your secret photographs, huh? And all of this after you embarrassed me as soon as I got here and threw in the punchline you were probably holding back all night about the match.”

You went to step around him again, but he took a step to the side essentially blocking your path out of this place. 

“That wasn’t a punchline and no, that picture of you wasn’t random. And I’m sorry about that prank, it was stupid and immature.”

You just stared at him. How far was he willing to take this? You were already embarrassed he knew about the match and that everybody now seemed to know your picture was hanging in this gallery. 

“You’re really something Bucky,” you said, not an ounce of anger leaving your tone of voice. 

“Remember what I said when we started talking about the pictures?” he asked as he blocked your path again. “I said you’d have to listen a little for this to work.”

“Yeah, well I think I’ve listened enough,” you replied.

“You haven’t. You’re leaving as soon as the real conversation is beginning.”

“Well you chose not to say anything about what you knew all night. And for what purpose? To have fun!”

“You knew about the match too, sweetheart, and didn’t say a word either,” he retorted. “So, this isn’t all on me. And I already told you this wasn’t a joke or some elaborate prank.”

“I don’t care,” you said, frustration growing as he wouldn’t let you leave causing your argument to not be as strong as you’d hope.  
“If you want to leave, fine leave, but I’m taking you home.”

“Not happening,” you simply said, unable to picture what a ride home with Bucky would look like. 

“Yes, it is,” he replied confidently. “You couldn’t even find your coat among 5 other coats, not a chance you’ll find your place.”

You scoffed not understanding how one person could be so frustrating, annoying, and a pain. Maybe you should create a trophy for him that let him know just how much of a bother he was. You could have it engraved, “TO THE BIGGEST ASS”. 

“Excuse me?” Bucky suddenly yelled out for all his guests to hear. 

Your mouth dropped as he called everybody’s attention to where you and he stood. You flashed your eyes to Nat and Wanda who shared a similar expression. 

“I’d like to thank everyone of you for coming out tonight. I hope you all enjoyed the images. I have to leave now, but please enjoy the rest of the night. Place is ours for a bit,” he added with a smile. The guests clapped and those holding glasses raised them, most singing their praises to Bucky. Turning to you he quietly said, “Let’s go.”

“I’m not leaving,” you quickly responded. 

“Well darling I already said goodnight so now we kind of have to leave,” he said, and you swore you could slap him. 

“I’m not leaving with you,” you amended. 

“Ok, then I’ll just announce I’m staying, give me a sec—”

“No!” you said, louder than you had intended. “No more stupid announcements.” 

“Just let me take the time it takes to get to your place to explain. I promise I won’t take any longer. You can say whatever you want after that. But I can’t let you go like this. Not after what I’ve learned tonight.”

Your eyebrows shot up at that last part. He had learned something? 

You looked over to Nat and Wanda who were staring back trying to figure out whether you needed them or not. 

Your mind replayed the words Wanda had uttered before you went on the ‘tour’ with Bucky. 

“Try to figure out what the system saw between both of you. Maybe you learn something new.”

Could you really trust this guy? He had been nothing but an ass the entire time you had known him, yet you had noticed he had kept that side of him hidden tonight. But tonight, had only been a few hours, surely that couldn’t make up for the years you had known him for. 

And yet now he stood in front of you asking for a few more minutes. Not days, or weeks, or months. Just minutes. An amount of time you would usually think tolerable. 

“If you really think I won’t change your mind, then why are you hesitating?” he asked. His words echoing the ones Nat had spoken to you a few hours ago. “You have to get home anyway so might as well prove me wrong while you’re at it.”

The challenge in his voice spurred something within you. He was right. You were confident in what you had seen. Knew that this was nothing more than a game to him, so if you could get the last laugh then you should take that opportunity. 

“Fine,” you said. 

The smile he gave was unlike any other smile he had flashed your way. There was no undertone of mischief within it. 

You gazed once more towards Nat and Wanda who were still looking back at you. They took a few steps toward you before you began walking their way. Quickly explaining what was happening and letting them know you were ok, you said your goodbyes. 

Once outside the gallery, Rick wished you both a goodnight, a surprised look on his face as he saw you walking beside Bucky. 

“My bike is in the back,” Bucky leaned in to say and you felt your stomach drop. There was no way in hell you would be getting on a motorcycle with him. You could barely trust him while he stood next to you, that little trust would evaporate as soon as he got on that death-trap. You began to shake your head furiously when you heard him chuckle. “Kidding, I parked my car over on that street,” he said pointing you in the direction of his car. 

You sighed deeply, not understanding how you had actually accepted to have him drive you home. 

“So much for not being a jerk,” you said. 

“It doesn’t hurt to laugh a little, you know,” he replied. 

“I laugh at funny things. Usually ones that are not at my expense,” you responded seriously, both of you falling into step on your way to his car. 

He sighed, “Ok, sorry. But laughing at yourself every once in a while, can be therapeutic. Can’t take yourself too seriously.”

“I laugh at myself all the time, Barnes.”

“Had me fooled.”

“Well you were absolutely right,” you began sarcastically. “I’m having a wonderful time proving you wrong.”

“Hey, don’t claim victory too soon. This is just beginning. Tell you what. Let’s ditch my car and instead walk to your place.”

“You mean extend the time I have to spend with you?” you scoffed. “Not happening.”

“Scared?”

You rolled your eyes. He was actually a child. 

“Please, scared of what?”

“Falling in love with me,” he said with a smirk. 

You threw your head back as you laughed, careful not to trip over anything as you kept walking. This man was the bane of your existence. He was not only a complete and total jerk, but also an egomaniac. Again, you cursed Craig’s name. No way he could be sitting at home happily with an amazing wife when his algorithm matched people like you and Bucky. 

“Nice to hear you laugh for a change,” he chuckled. “Thought maybe you couldn’t.”

“The faster we get this over with, the better,” you said choosing to not even acknowledge his reply. 

“Oh, come on!” he said. “We got a soulmate-level match. You’re not curious to figure out why? I mean I’m already putting together my own theories. Why are you so stubborn? 20 more minutes won’t kill you.”

“That site is a sham,” you replied. “That’s the only theory that’s accepted so there’s no need to waste more time.”

“You can be so infuriating, you know that?”

“Ditto.”

“I mean tonight wasn’t terrible. You can’t say you weren’t having a good time. Up until you freaked out on me, we were actually getting along. Doesn’t that say anything to you?”

“What exactly is it supposed to say?” you asked as you glanced around the street, noting the people casually walking by you. “Am I supposed to applaud you for being civil for once?”

“See, there you go again. Just infuriating. What tonight said to me was that maybe that site saw something we hadn’t even thought about.”

You looked to him. Why did everybody think this? How could anybody believe an algorithm could be wise enough to see something hidden behind layers of annoyance and hate. 

“Wanna know why your picture was hanging in the gallery tonight?” he interrupted your thoughts. You weighed his question, curiosity fighting its way to the top against your annoyance. You nodded, remembering you still had so many other questions. “I had another image up originally. A picture of that one corner in Grand Central Station where you can whisper at one end and a person on the other end can hear you crystal clear. I got a couple who was hanging out there to pose. The colors photographed incredibly well, and I was happy with the way the picture turned out. I had set up the whole thing. Yes, I set it up, even if you refuse to give me the credit,” he said causing you chuckle much to your surprise, “The whole thing was ready, so I was on my way to invite you guys when I saw you at the coffee place with the girls. Figured I could invite you there.”

“You didn’t invite me,” you replied, annoyance quickly flooding your senses again. “You invited Nat and Wanda.”

“I invited you,” he taunted. “You just got a special kind of invitation. One that stayed true to our style,” he winked. 

Suddenly you wondered why he had decided to invite you the day of the gallery and hide the fact that he was the photographer. You were more than sure he must’ve worked on it for weeks, so why not share it with the cocky attitude he was infamous for?

“Why’d you wait till today to invite us and tell us it was your gallery?” you voiced your question.

“It’s fucking terrifying to put yourself out there like that. Those pictures all have a bit of me. Had to work myself up to tell you guys.”

“Steve knew?”

“Of course, he did,” he said as he tied to move a few of the stubborn strands of hair out of his face. “Told Sam and Tony before they left. They promised to stop by the gallery once they come back from LA.”

You understood what he meant. It couldn’t be easy to put up a gallery of your work and invite your friends.

You had seen him around with his camera a couple of times. The thought of him being serious about photography never crossed your mind. Seriousness and Bucky Barnes weren’t things that you paired up often. He usually brought this camera along when the group hung out. The shuttering sounds of him taking a picture usually interrupting casual conversations among friends. Pictures of you had found their way on his camera, simply because you were part of the group of friends he spent his time with. Your next question sprung up.

“When did you take that picture of me?”

“A few months ago,” he replied, his gaze softening as he remembered, hands shyly hiding in the pockets of his jacket. “Saw you sitting there alone one time. I was heading over to Steve’s place and thought about maybe talking to you for a bit. It had been a while since we’d talked and I kind of missed teasing you,” he laughed. “So, I walked up behind you and stopped when I saw how peaceful you looked. Felt bad about disturbing you, because believe it or not I can be nice, so I just picked up my camera and took a picture. The light reflecting off the droplets of dew on the flowers was too good to pass up.” 

“You just had a camera at the ready, you creep?”

With a laugh he answered, “Just for you, doll.”

You scrunched up your nose at his response. Noticing how his laugh wasn’t as annoying as it had been a few minutes ago, caused a strange feeling in your stomach. Crossing the street, you thought of your next question.

“So, why’d you switch out the original image with mine?”

“I got the notification from the app,” he admitted. “You almost cost me my phone, you know. I almost dropped it in the gutter when I saw your name. iPhone X almost gone because of you.”

“I almost broke Wanda’s laptop,” you joked, giving a soft laugh as you rememebered this morning. 

“I laughed a bit,” you quirked your eyebrow knowing there was bound to be more to his reaction. “Ok, I laughed a lot. The fucking irony of it all, you know. Who would even think to pair us up?”

“Craig,” you muttered under your breath with disdain. 

“Who?”

You shook your head, instead encouraging him to continue. 

“Then I clicked on your profile. Saw your likes and the way you described yourself. Couldn’t find a lie, by the way,” he commented with a smirk.

You felt your cheeks heat up as you remembered Wanda had described you as ‘sexy and well read’. You quickly averted your eyes, hoping he wouldn’t notice how flustered you’d suddenly become. You chose to let your eyes fixate on your shoes as you walked. 

“Got to the part where you listed your favorite place in the world. I mean out of all the places on this entire planet, you chose to write in your community garden! Who does that? Couldn’t believe it when I read it, but then that image of you I had taken flashed in my mind. Suddenly I understood why you had answered the way you did.”

He had spent the day wondering, like you, why a soulmate-level match had been made between you and him. He had noticed your profile was minutes-old, so he assumed you were already aware of the match as you were still probably online. Once realizing you would most likely not address it, he did all he could to get your photograph printed and hung before the guests arrived, trying to get the topic out in the open. 

“I admit it. I haven’t been the nicest to you, but that match wouldn’t leave me alone! Why? I mean how? Thought I would do one nice thing to see what would happen,” he smiled, “turns out you just assumed I was setting you up.”

“I still do,” you said, waiting to see his reaction. To your amusement his eyes went large, jaw tensing, as he processed what you had said. “Kidding,” you added before he got a chance to respond. “But you can’t believe we could be more than what we are now,” you said. “I mean sure, maybe our friendship can improve, but whosyourmate.com is still wrong.”

“Shit, that actually hurt,” he said as he put a hand over his chest. 

You stopped at a red light, scanning his features for confirmation of his reaction being a joke. To your surprise you found what you thought to be genuine hurt. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. Bucky couldn’t really believe there was something romantic between the two of you, right? The change from a red to a green glow illuminating his features caused you to turn around and continue walking as the traffic light had granted you permission to cross the intersection. 

“Bucky,” you began quietly as you crossed the street. Afraid of saying the wrong thing. “You really do believe the match?” 

“I — um— I mean,” he sighed grabbing your arm, stopping the both of you from continuing walking. You stopped in front of a closed coffee place, much to your misfortune. Had the place been open, maybe you could distract yourself a bit with the people inside. Now you were forced to look at Bucky. “I don’t know. But if it had been another guy, if you had gotten a soulmate-level match with somebody else, would you consider it?” 

You thought about his question, remembering how you had at one point been excited to see who was out there. Ready to give it a try. 

“I guess,” you admitted. 

“You would’ve accepted a match with a complete and total stranger?”

“I mean, maybe. It’s what I signed up for, right? Meeting new people. Seeing who else was out there. Trying new things”

“Yes,” he said, voice becoming more confident as he continued. “But you got me instead. So why can’t you apply the same reasoning to me? Why can’t you see this as trying something new?”

Your stomach began doing what seemed to be somersaults. Why were his words affecting you so much? The only response his words would bring out of you were annoyed groans or a roll of your eyes. 

“Why are you so accepting about it?” You chose to respond with a question, maybe buying you a few minutes to sort out what you were feeling. 

“Because what if it’s right! I’ve been on that site for almost two years and you know how many soulmate-level matches I’ve gotten?” He continued as you shook your head. “Just one; you. And maybe it’s a sham, just a glitch, a coincidence, or whatever you choose to call it, but I can’t stop thinking about what if it’s right. What if you’ve been standing in front of me all this time and I did nothing about it because I chose to ignore a soulmate fucking level match. Because the sham system, as you’re calling it, somehow picked the one girl I already know and decided to match her with me. Because I saw how you were drawn to my photographs, the same ones I just told you all have a piece of me. Because as you were trying to leave I couldn’t even think about letting you go so I left the fucking opening of my gallery. Because I’ve been an asshole every time I’ve interacted with you, yet I laugh at every time you call me out on my bullshit. Because maybe I’ve been immature and have decided to mask something else with a jerk attitude without even knowing I’m doing it. I’m accepting it because I KNOW I wouldn’t be thinking so much about this match if it hadn’t been with you!” 

You blinked a couple of times. His words ringing in your ear as you looked at him. The strands of hair framing his face, had multiplied even after his attempts to tame them. A look of determination on his face made his barely illuminated eyes somehow radiate in the darkness. 

“Bucky,” you started again immediately stopping, unable to form any more words. 

“I know I’ve been a jerk,” he interrupted. “I know I haven’t been the nicest. And tonight, I thought it would be best to start it off as I would normally greet you. A bit of teasing to not let you in on the fact that I knew. I didn’t want to scare you away before you even got to see the picture. And then you just gave me the perfect way to try it out. Basically, dropped the opportunity to spend the night with you and test this out, right onto my lap. I’m not asking you to marry me Y/N. Just help me out here and consider it. I can’t get it out of my head, doll. Can’t seem to shake the feeling I get when I think about getting that notification. What if it’s right?”

“What if it’s not?”

“Then it’s not. Then we move on, knowing that we did what we could. That we at least gave it a shot.” 

“Gave us a shot?” You whispered, the thought still a bit uncomfortable. “I hated you a few hours ago.” 

“I don’t think you hated me. You were annoyed with me, definitely, but you didn’t hate me. You came to the gallery, didn’t you? Chose to spend the night with me?”

“To shut up Nat and Wanda!” You said, surprised by how not totally accurate that felt. “They kept saying that I should figure out why we had matched.”

“Can I tell you what I learned today?”

You nodded shyly, nervous about what he was going to say. 

“Your favorite place in the world is a tiny patch of flowers that everybody overlooks. A place that is probably only a favorite place to you because you see the beauty of it even when others can’t. Because you can sit on that bench and forget about everything. Didn’t even hear my camera when I took your picture. My entire collection of photographs was full of places often overlooked. Places that hold beauty most people ignore. We see things others don’t, doll. See places that are ignored and choose to spend time in them. Choose to make them our favorite places. I didn’t know that this morning. Didn’t know it until I clicked your profile on that site. I learned something new. Learned that I share something with you. Something that is special to both of us. I feel like there’s something here I hadn’t realized until I got that notification from that app. Maybe we are something we’ve overlooked. Maybe we are another patch of flowers we can both admire. Maybe we’re the something beautiful many, including us, have ignored.” 

You stared at him unable to form a worthy response. He was making sense, much to your surprise. Why were you fighting this so viciously? What if you gave it a shot? What if he was right? 

“Consider it?” He asked, eyes soft and hopeful. 

You took a few deep breaths, trying to steady your heart and calm your mind. Trying to understand everything going on. 

Timidly you nodded your head hoping you weren’t making a huge mistake. Hoping he wouldn’t laugh and call it all a prank. Hoping you were trusting the right person. 

A warm smile spread on his lips. He got closer to you whispering, “Thank you.” 

“Where’s your car?” You asked, suddenly realizing so much had happened, and you were still not at his car. 

It was his turn to laugh. He closed his eyes and doubled over, peals of laughter springing from his lips.

“About 6 blocks behind us. We’re almost halfway to your place.”

That jerk!! He had tricked and distracted you into actually waking home with him! 

“Needed to have this talk, doll,” he said with a smile, already knowing you would give him a hard time for not driving you home. “Couldn’t have it in a car.” 

And although you knew you would usually be upset, you couldn’t help but smile with him. His smile wasn’t teasing, wasn’t spreading on his lips because he had done something bad, something to embarrass you. It was genuine, warm, and inviting. Thinking about it made you appreciate the way it caused the corner of his eyes to crinkle. Appreciate the way he was directing it your way. Finally letting you see how you might’ve actually been missing out on the beauty of it all this time. Letting you more confidently decide it was worth it to at least give it a shot.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW CHAPTER NEW CHAPTER NEW CHAPTER!!!  
> Hope you guys like it! And as always, thanks so much for reading!

Closing the door to your apartment, you were unsure how to feel. You had just said goodbye to Bucky a few minutes ago, and your mind was already racing, trying to replay everything that had occurred that night. How could the day have taken such an unexpected turn? Just this morning, even the thought of Bucky, irritated you beyond belief, and now? It was hard to say.

With a heavy sigh, you stepped into your room, taking off the outfit you had chosen for the night and slipping into your softest pajamas. All the while a war raged in your thoughts. The need to think about your talk with Bucky pit itself against the habit of rolling your eyes and scoffing at his name.

Where had this version of Bucky been? The one that was thoughtful, eloquent, and charming. The Bucky you had met, the one you thought you knew, never took the time to actually talk to you. He would catch a glimpse of you, the wheels in his mind immediately starting to turn searching for whatever joke or prank he would spit out at your expense. And you always wondered, why? What caused someone to act like an ass 99% of the time. That remaining one percent of actual nice behavior was reserved solely for Steve, and on good days Sam, who would swear there was more to Bucky than you thought. But it was hard to see past the cocky smile, the condescending stare, the arrogant air that always seemed to surround him. They created the perfect barrier, one that protected what seemed to be a more sensitive Bucky. 

Settling on your couch, with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, you pulled up your laptop, succumbing to the need to analyze what had just happened. You were afraid to check your phone, not really in the mood to answer the questions Nat and Wanda were sure to have. So, you placed it face down and away from you. 

You typed in the dreaded online dating site’s name in the hope that maybe actually looking at Bucky’s profile could help you better understand where his sudden care sprung from. This morning you had quickly recoiled at seeing his name, immediately put off by the name and picture staring back at you. But now, a new curiosity was growing within you. One that guided you to his profile. 

Interests: Riding and fixing my bike, reading, cooking, photography, spending time with friends, hair care, working out.

You laughed at seeing how photography, what you now knew was a major part of his life, was listed fourth. He had listed cooking before it, and you had never heard anything about Bucky cooking. He was notorious for his determination to never contribute actual food to Steve’s dinner parties. Sam had once volunteered Bucky to bring a potato salad, and Bucky had immediately jumped out of his chair and begged Steve to let him bring wine instead. You had also seen what he had done to a poor pancake one morning when you had stupidly decided to join Steve, Sam, and him for a run. Your sore legs, thanks to their ridiculous need to run as if a bear was chasing them, barely let you stand up to get your pancakes from where Bucky stood by the stove. His eyebrows had been scrunched up, eyes focused, as he placed all his attention on the flipping of the pancake. With a smirk he had plopped the pancake onto your plate, his ego not letting him see what a mess he had made. Taking the chance to tease him, especially after he had berated you for not being able to keep up with them, you had grabbed a fork cutting the burned edges and letting him hear the sounds it made. The pancake sounded more like a chip, crunching and flaking as you dug the fork into it. With a smile, you brought your eyes up to his as you moved your fork to the center, dipping your fork into the undercooked batter. “Try again,” you had said to him, laughing as his cocky smirk fell from his face. “Don’t know how you managed to burn and undercook a pancake all at once, Barnes.”

Your eyes scanned the rest of his page. Reaching for your phone when you caught sight of “learn to make the perfect sushi roll” under ‘Goals’. 

Ignoring the string of texts sent by Nat and Wanda, you pulled up Bucky’s number and called. 

“Hey,” came Bucky’s answer after the line rung a few times. “Please don’t tell me you’re calling to take it all back.”

“You’re a liar,” you said, a bit too excited at the fact that he would have no idea what you were talking about. Catching people off guard could be fun.

“Y/N,” he began, “I just gave you the longest speech of my life and you’re calling me a liar?”

“Your profile,” you clarified with a chuckle. “Cooking? Really Bucky. You can barely make tea.”

“Oh,” he laughed, “I didn’t lie. I might’ve exaggerated a bit, but that’s not technically lying.”

“You wrote it before photography! We were just at a gallery full of your photographs. How can cooking even compare?”

On the other end of the line you heard what seemed to be jingling keys, followed by a thud of a closing door. He was most likely just getting to his apartment. You had thought he would stop by his gallery, knowing people would still be there as long as the champagne was still flowing.

“Everybody lies a little on their profiles, Y/N,” he replied, and you began laughing at his admission. “I mean everybody exaggerates on their profiles! Is this seriously why you called me?”

Your laugh grew quiet at his question unsure of how to answer it. Why exactly had you called him?

“Miss me already, doll?” he taunted from the other end of the line, his voice teasingly dripping with sarcasm. You could practically hear the smirk he was definitely sporting. The one you had always felt like smacking right off his face.

“You wish, Barnes,” you replied, hoping the words would do the smacking for you as your tone suddenly took on a cold tone, one that surprised you. “Don’t flatter yourself, I’ll admit that speech was somewhat nice, but don’t think I’m sighing dreamily at the thought of you.”

“Well, maybe not yet,” he chuckled, as you took sip of your coffee. “And I resent that! That speech might’ve beaten whatever nonsense your Calhoun dude muttered at that girl.”

“You’re not really comparing yourself to the Noah Calhoun, epitome of romance. The guy who literally dangled off a ferris wheel for Allie.”

“You consider that romantic?” he scoffed, as you heard voices suddenly coming from the background on his end followed by the classic dramatic theme that came on before the news. “Guy basically threatened her into agreeing to a date. Poor girl had no other choice. What? She was going to say no and then be guilt-ridden for the rest of her life because some idiot decided it was funny to dangle off a ferris wheel and died.”

Your jaw dropped. He actually had a point! 

“No, much rather stay on the ground and sweep a girl off her feet a safer and less threatening way,” he said. 

You tried multiple times to get words out and failed every time. Your mouth opening and closing without a sound. The silence being filled by the serious muffled voices of the news anchors from his TV. 

“Still there?” Bucky asked. 

“He did more than dangle off a Ferris wheel, you know,” you chose to reply, still needing more time to wrap your mind around the fact that he actually believed you two could be more, that you could move past the turbulent friendship you had known for years now. With another sip of your coffee you continued, “He kept all her memories, patiently waiting for those brief moments where her mind would clear up and she remembered him. Can’t deny that’s romantic. 

“That’s a movie, though. He was reading a script, acting on that. Not real romance.”

“I think I know why I called you,” you hesitantly admitted, realizing your almost instinctive dialing of his number was not by accident or to call him out on the tiny lie you found on his profile. 

“Was it not to analyze The Notebook in depth?”

You rolled your eyes, a heavy sigh pushing past your lips. “How would this even work, hypothetically. I mean, what would we do?”

There was a beat of silence. You strained your ears, hoping to catch a clue of what he would be replying. There was nothing, though. You could almost assume the line had gone dead if it were not for the muffled commercials that seemed to be playing on his TV.

“Well, you know you won’t find me dangling off of anything,” came his response.  
“I don’t know why I even try,” you cut him off. “Here I am actually considering this, and you’re just goofing off—”

“Hey, now wait just a second. Doll, you gotta listen. Haven’t I said this before?”

“I’m being serious here, Bucky.”

“So am I. I thought that was clear. You saw the photograph, right? Heard my speech? Saw how I basically poured out all my thoughts and emotions to you? I mean do you really think that was easy. I know you’re not exactly fond of me so doing that took a lot. I just thought this conversation was getting too serious and it doesn’t have to.”

“What does that even mean? Doesn’t this whole thing freak you out?”

“Oh my god!” he laughed, a striking contrast to the theme that once again played behind him. “Of course, it does! But Y/N we already know each other. We have a dynamic. A signature dynamic,” he corrected. “And us hopeful—, uh, maybe having a different type of connection doesn’t mean everything has to change.”

You looked at his profile. Scanning his picture. The one you had so harshly criticized this morning. You hadn’t been too off, it was actually pretty ridiculous. He was trying too hard to be cool, looking off to one side, pretending he wasn’t aware of the camera. You wondered if he had gotten Steve to take the picture. He would most likely not have asked Sam, knowing that any type of vanity shot would be met with a teasing jab from him. Sam’s constant picking on Bucky had made him one of your favorites. You would usually be found laughing hysterically at the comments Sam made. Bucky had almost made it his mission to keep you both apart, barely being able to put up with you individually. 

“You chose a ridiculous picture for your profile,” you suddenly stated, catching even yourself by surprise. But hearing Bucky mention the dynamic that you had both created with one another, made you realize that it was true. That maybe not everything had to change. 

“Now that’s just mean,” he replied with a chuckle. “My joke was funny, yours is just brutal. Didn’t I just show you photography means a lot to me? I took that picture on my own, let me tell you. Used the incredibly challenging tool known as the timer-feature on my camera. Do you know how difficult it is to set up the timer, run back to the motorcycle, lean on it at just the right angle, and pose for the perfect shot? I got that picture on my first attempt! It’s a skill few have.”

A smile spread across your lips at hearing him explain the way he had captured that image. The thought of him taking it on his own, somehow funnier than having Sam take it for him. You brought up your cup of coffee to your lips, its much cooler temperature reminding you that you had spent a while looking at Bucky’s profile and talking to him. 

“And to answer your question, we could approach this as we would any other match, with a date.”

His words caused you to choke on your sip of coffee. A date? That word felt strange under the present circumstance. It made what he was talking about seem much more real. Much more palpable. Something you could set. Something your phone could remind you of, and that made everything that had just happened dawn on you, the weight of it suddenly dropping on your shoulders. Sure, Bucky could say everything didn’t have to change. That you could be comfortable in the dynamic you had created. And you could play along. Teasing his picture and laughing at how silly he must’ve looked trying to take it. But this was bound to be different. Uncomfortable, even. 

“Are you plotting to kill me?” you heard Bucky’s voice cut through the storm of thoughts clouding your mind. “How mad are you at the word ‘date’? Should we call it something else? A meeting? A get-together? A conference? A council? An assembly? I’m running out of words here, Y/N.”

“Its just throwing me off,” you replied honestly, thinking it was the best way to approach this new territory. “Bucky, the thought never crossed my mind. You have to understand that.”

“I do,” he said, his voice soft. Like the voice someone would take on when trying to comfort someone. “Want to help me tomorrow at the gallery? Its opening to the public in a few days and I still have somethings to do. Maybe you can help me run errands? Just running around the city. Nothing major. Just friends helping friends.”

You considered his suggestion. Thought of the way his words had surrounded you earlier tonight as he explained why he was so willing to give it a try. How his charm had lifted you over the wall he had built around himself and let you see a different side of Bucky. 

You didn’t need him to dangle off a Ferris wheel. The way he was so patiently making sure you were comfortable along the way. The way he could hear your hesitation, share his thoughts, and wait for you to agree. Everything was working better than if he had dangled off a Ferris wheel. Because you felt something stir inside you. Just like Allie had felt her voice suddenly increase in volume as she accepted Noah’s request to go out. And maybe Bucky was right and her response had been driven by fear. Maybe her response had been motivated by the need to make sure Noah would quit being an idiot and get back on the seat. Maybe her “I want to go out with you!” was forced out. But as you spoke your next words, you knew that it wasn’t the case for you. Knew that Bucky hadn’t used force, knew that he was right. That from the floor of his gallery and through his voice on the phone, he had done something that caused you to utter your response. 

“I want to run errands with you.” 

“Perfect.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go!! Hope you guys like it! There's only two more chapters left. The next will be the "end" and then we'll also have an epilogue of sorts :). Thanks for reading!

Turning over on your bed, you groaned hoping to finally shut off the alarm that had been ringing for almost 5 minutes. 

 

It was 7:37 am. Part of you wanted to stay in bed until noon, having stayed up well past your usual bedtime, finally getting to answer all the questions Nat and Wanda  had bombarded you with.

 

You had first assured them that you had made it home ok and that thanks to an unexpected miracle, you and Bucky had managed to not rip each other’s head off and had actually been civil to one another. The details of what had exactly happened, you decided to keep for yourself not needing more of their input. Dealing with your own thoughts was already tough enough, so you didn’t need Nat’s sarcastic humor or Wanda’s good-natured worrying. They had heard quiet a lot, though, about how irritated they had made you feel. Maybe being better prepared for Bucky’s surprise would’ve allowed you to think more rationally and stopped you from causing quiet the show at his gallery. They had assured that nobody had noticed much, but you knew they were most likely trying to help you feel better about the whole thing.

 

Thinking about the day ahead was like riding a roller coaster; and you weren’t exactly fond of roller coasters. On the one hand, running errands with Bucky didn’t seem like too big a deal. You helped Nat and Wanda run errands all the time. They needed to deliver something to the post office? You would make a day of it. Stop at the post office, grab some coffee, maybe window shop, and then grab some dinner. Still you knew, that had Bucky asked you to run errands with him a week ago, you would’ve most likely laughed till you cried. The thought of spending any alone time with him would tend to send chills up your spine. The annoying kind you get when you feel an ant crawling up your arm.

 

Throwing off your covers you headed to your bathroom, hoping to wake yourself up some more with a refreshing wash of your face. You had half a mind to call Bucky up again and call the whole thing off. Tell him that he was crazy, that in no possible universe could you and him ever have anything more than the rocky barely-friendship you had somehow managed to create. But that jerk had gotten in your head. When just yesterday morning you could conjure up his cocky smile and his irritating ‘pranks’ and jokes, the first thing that crossed your mind when you thought of him now, was that speech he had given on your walk back home. Maybe you had lied a bit about not sighing at the thought of him, because his words had stirred something inside of you. They had jumpstarted a part of you that you had no intention of ever acknowledging. The part that made room for Bucky in your life as something more than the annoying and frustratingly irritating guy you only tolerated because of Steve. So, you swallowed down the almost instinctive need to not spend anytime with him and washed your face.

 

Bucky had told you that he was planning on being at his gallery by 9:30 am. He had offered to pick you up, this time really in his car, but you had refused feeling much more comfortable just meeting him there.

 

After taking a quick shower you stood in front of your closet suddenly overcome with confusion as to what to wear. This wasn’t a date, at least you were trying to convince yourself it wasn’t, so you didn’t want to look like you had tried too hard. But then again, you didn’t want to look like you had just thrown on any random clothes, like you had yesterday morning. So, picturing what you would wear if you were helping the girls out instead, you grabbed your favorite pair of jeans, a loose-fitting t-shirt, threw on a cute jacket, and stepped into your most comfortable flats. And with a sigh you left your apartment barely convincing yourself to go through with today.

 

You figured you could just walk to his gallery, seeing as you had already done that last night, and stopped by the coffee place that you wished had been open last night. As you had imagined, the place was full of interesting people, all of whom could’ve served as a distraction had they been here when you needed them last night.

 

You scanned their menu, settling for hot green tea all the while wondering if you should get something for Bucky. You searched your mind trying to remember if you had ever heard what he liked to drink and came up short. It was hard to listen past all his annoying comments, you realized. Still, you thought it would be best if you got him something, almost as a white flag letting him know you were actually giving this a try. You decided to order him some plain black coffee, asking for sugar and creamer on the side so he could add himself, the amount he preferred.

 

As the gallery came into view, your stomach began to feel queasy. You knew it was silly. You had known him for a few years now, so it wasn’t like meeting up with a stranger. Still, in a way it was. This was a whole new side of Bucky that you had not yet gotten a chance to meet. You didn’t know what to expect and so the nerves throughout your body seemed to tense up, causing your hands to shake a bit.

 

Willing your nerves to cool down, you walked up to the gallery’s door, from which you could see Bucky talking to Rick. His eyebrows shot up as he looked over Rick’s shoulder and saw you standing on the other side of the door.

 

“Hey,” he greeted you with a small smile as he opened the door. He awkwardly leaned into you as if getting ready to give you a hug yet backed down seconds after, settling for giving you a tiny wave.

 

You almost gave a sigh of relief as you noticed he was also wearing a very causal outfit. In a simple grey t-shirt, dark jeans, sneakers, and a cap, he really did look ready for a day full of errands. This helped calm your nerves a bit as it seemed you were both on the same page.

 

“Come on in,” he said as he moved to the side and let you step into the gallery.

 

You waited for him to close the door, muting the sounds coming in from the city, and step beside you before walking, handing him his cup of coffee and little paper bag with sugars and creamers.

 

“I stopped to grab some tea, thought maybe you’d like coffee,” you said as you pointed at his cup. “Wasn’t sure how you drank it so there’s sugar and creamers in the bag.”

 

“Thanks,” he said with a smile, stepping over to the side to prepare his coffee.

 

“Sorry,” you said to Rick who looked at you with a smile, similar to the one Elle had sported last night as she recognized you. “Didn’t know you would be here. I would’ve grabbed something for you too had I known.”

 

“Not a problem,” Rick replied, waving his hands in front of him.

 

“Yeah, don’t apologize, doll,” Bucky spoke up from behind you, a smile evident in his voice. “Rick caused you enough trouble last night, didn’t you Rick?”

 

“Now, that wasn’t my fault,” Rick said shooting a glare at Bucky. “I didn’t know I was blocking the star of the show from entering the gallery. See, I thought a different picture was the main attraction. I just saw yours, by the way. It’s beautiful.”

 

You were unsure how to respond, heat rising to your cheeks, your eyes looking everywhere but at Rick who had just given you a lovely compliment.

 

“Thank you,” you finally willed yourself to say. “It’s Bucky’s picture, though.”

 

“Maybe,” Rick replied, “But a photographer is only as good as his muse. Isn’t that right, James?”

 

“One hundred percent,” Bucky said, his voice close to you as he stepped beside you once more.

 

“Well, I’ll talk to you later today,” Rick said to Bucky, stepping closer to him to give his hand a shake. “Let me know when you’ll need me. I’ll most likely be available so all I need is a start day.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to let you know,” Bucky replied. “Most likely in a few days. Just gotta get the last details ready but I have help today,” he said as he nodded his head towards you. “So, we should be done by tonight. I’ll confirm with you, though, but you know you’re my first choice for security.”

 

“Thanks James and good luck today!”  Rick said as he walked over to the door.

 

Your nerves returned as fast as they had left as you noticed with Rick gone it was only you and Bucky.

 

“So,” Bucky said, a little too loud. “Um, I have a few things to fix here and then I have to approve the final version of the flyers that are going out to spread the word,” he looked at you before adding, “and also talk to some people about getting more prints of my pictures, you know, in case people would like to buy them.”

 

You looked around at the photographs that were hanging. Your gaze immediately fell on the first image of the gallery. The waterfall, looking as beautiful as ever, now illuminated by the morning light not just within the picture, but also from the soft light seeping in from the front of the gallery.

 

“I’m sure people will buy them,” you said to him, as you walked over to the image, sipping the last bit of your tea. “They’re not bad.”

 

“Gee, thanks,” Bucky laughed, approaching you while mimicking your actions as he took a sip of his coffee. “Nice to hear ‘they’re not bad’ after months of work. Its better than what I could’ve hoped for.”

 

“They’re good,” you admitted. “Does that make you feel better?”

 

“It does, actually,” he teased. “I thought you might not be showing up today,” he continued, walking towards the center of the room, a place you were still trying to keep your mind from. “Figured you’d be too freaked out by the whole thing,” his voice was getting quieter as he disappeared behind the makeshift walls.

 

You debated following him, hoping he wasn’t headed towards your image, but he was more or less calling you out, so you forced your feet to carry you towards him.

 

“Well, I’m here,” you said, relief spreading throughout your body as you noticed he was standing in front of the picture of the train station. There was a small step ladder beside it with a few boxes of lightbulbs. “And what’s there to be weirded out about running errands? I’ve done it countless of times,” you added.

 

“Right,” Bucky chuckled as he set down his coffee cup and picked up a lightbulb. “We’re running errands.”

 

He bent down to move the boxes of lightbulbs from the step ladder onto the floor, stepping onto the ladder and reaching up to unscrew the light bulb that illuminated the photograph of the train station.

 

“Can you hold this?” he asked as he handed you the apparently burned out light bulb then reaching up again to replace it with a new one. “Dumb thing apparently went out after we left. Steve, called me a few times to let me know but I guess I didn’t hear it. I was too busy _not_ dangling off a ferris wheel. Thankfully most people were just concerned with the champagne at that point.”

 

“Can I ask you a question?” you asked as he stepped off the ladder, his eyes squinting as if deciding whether or not to accept.

 

“Sure,” he eventually said.

 

“You put this whole thing up with your own money?”

 

“Oh,” he replied caught off guard by the question. He was most likely expecting a different type of question. “Yes, for the most part. Steve helped me with getting this place. It was perfect for what I was trying to do, but over my budget. Why?”

 

“I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you put so much of yourself into something. I mean, no offense, really. It was just surprising to learn this was all yours.”

 

“Well we haven’t been the closest of friends, right? There are somethings you don’t know about me. And I’m sure there are somethings I don’t know about you.”

 

“I don’t think I’ve hidden a passion, even from you.”

 

He chuckled, closing the ladder and resting it against a wall.

 

“I didn’t hide it. You’ve seen me with a camera.”

 

“Yes,” you drew out the word. “But you never told us you were setting this whole thing up. I thought you were just an Instagram snob.”

 

“You think I’m a snob. Period,” he replied with a laugh.

 

“Can’t blame me. You haven’t given me much to work with.”

 

“Fine, part of it is on me -”

 

“All of it,” you interjected. “All of it is on you. You’ve been nothing but an ass. Remember the first time we met?”

 

“Y/N, that was years ago,” he said trying to appease you.

 

“Yeah, I know. That’s not what I asked, though.”

 

He sighed, running his hands up and down his face then bringing them up to adjust his cap, as if the memory was something he’d rather forget.

 

“Yes, I remember. But that was an honest mistake!”

 

“Really?” you said, letting your voice drip with sarcasm. “If I remember correctly Steve introduced me quite clearly, making sure there was no room for ‘honest mistakes’” you added, making air quotes around the last two words.

 

“In my defense—”

 

“Oh, this should be good,” you interrupted again.

 

“In my defense,” he started again, speaking louder the second time. “Steve didn’t point at you when he introduced you.”

 

You blinked owlishly, waiting to see if there was more to this explanation. When you noticed that was it, his entire defense, you scoffed.

 

“I was the only one there!” you smacked his arm, which he quickly moved away rubbing it as if it had really hurt. “Who _else_ would he be introducing?!”

 

He laughed, “Fuck. Ok, that was bad. You want the truth? Here’s the truth. Steve had been yapping nonstop about you! You had known him for how long at that point? Two? Three months?”

 

“Three,” you confirmed.

 

“Now here’s the thing. I confused you with someone else.”

 

“Uhuh,” you nodded pretending to accept his explanation.

 

“I did! I mixed you up with the other girl he had just met. What was her name?” he snapped his fingers a few times as if that would somehow make the name of the person he was thinking about appear before him. “Mia!” snapping seemed to work.

 

Your face twisted up in disgust as you remembered who he was talking about. That girl was the worst. Clearly taking advantage of Steve and just pushing him around to get what she wanted. You had been more than relieved when Steve had finally opened his eyes to the truth everybody but him seemed to be able to see.

 

“How dare you!” you said exaggerating your offense. “She’s the worst!”

 

“I know,” he chuckled. “But he met you both around the same time. And he would not shut up about either of you. It was hard to keep track of who was who. So, when I met you, I just thought he would be introducing me to the girl he was, for some idiotic reason, crushing over. Figured I’d let her know I was onto her.”

 

You pierced your eyes debating whether or not to believe him. His explanation seemed possible, but still he must’ve realized soon after that you weren’t that other girl.

 

“So, you acted like a complete and total dick,” you said.

 

“Yeah, she hadn’t known him for too long and she was already getting on my nerves from what Steve would share with me. I just thought he would see how much I didn’t like her and then maybe get rid of her.”

 

“Ok,” you began. “But you must’ve realized I wasn’t _her_.”

 

“Well, Steve told me after you had left. Told me that I should apologize because he valued your _friendship_. It all clicked after and I knew you weren’t the girl I had thought you were.”

 

“Hmm, interesting,” you said as you tapped a finger on your chin, “because I don’t recall an apology,” you smacked his arm again.

 

“Well, you got all riled up the second time I saw you!” he said as he caught the hand you had smacked him twice with. “You ignored me and chose to hang out with Wilson. And then it just became fun to try and get a reaction out of you, especially after you paired yourself up with Sam. You’re very expressive when you’re angry,” he added with a chuckle as he dropped your hand. “And careful with that,” he gestured towards it, “hurts more than you think. In here,” he said as he pointed to his chest.

 

“Oh, shut it,” you said, a smile unwillingly appearing on your lips. “Well it wouldn’t hurt to apologize now. Would it?”

 

“Fine,” he rolled his eyes. “Y/N, I’m sorry I treated you so badly the first time we met,” he began dramatically. “I was only trying to protect my friend from an evil so great, horror stories are still being told. I hope you can accept this very late apology.”

 

“Well it’s years late, James,” you said, and you didn’t miss the way he perked up at the sound of his real name. “So, I’ll have to think it over.”

 

You paused for a few seconds, making a show of debating whether or not to accept his apology.

 

“Fine, you’re forgiven. But _just_ for _that_ time.”

 

“Did that make you feel better?” he asked with a smirk, repeating the words you had said to him earlier.

 

“Much,” you replied.

–

 

“I thought we had agreed on making the letters white?” Bucky asked Jake, the man responsible for the flyers. “You can barely make out the name and place of my gallery.”

 

You looked over the flyer in Bucky’s hand, and nodded in agreement. The background was black, making the flyers seem very professional and minimal. The letters, however, were a dark shade of blue; a color that caused you to strain your eyes while trying to read the words against the black background.

 

“No, you said you wanted them dark. I remember. I wrote it all down right here,” Jake said as he pointed to a yellow notepad on his desk.

 

You let your eyes scan the sheet hoping to be of some help for Bucky as he continued to argue with Jake. He was very passionate about this collection, and not being able to spread the word about it properly would be devastating.

 

Finding his name scribbled in messy handwriting on the notepad you read the notes taken below it.

**Address** : 201 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012

**Name of Event** : Réfraction Atmosphérique

**Theme of Flyer** : Minimal, Sleek, Professional

**Background** : Dark (most likely black)

**Font** : Minimal and dark

**Customer Notes** : Enlarge font, change font color to white, darken background (8/1/18)

**Deadline** : Aug.6

 

You realized maybe at some point Bucky had requested a dark font but had then changed his mind. With this new information you chimed in, hoping Jake would stop the arguing and just fix his mistake.

 

“Sorry,” you began and chastised yourself for apologizing. There was nothing to apologize for. “Your notes _actually_ say he requested a white font. It’s right there under ‘Customer Notes’.”

 

After checking his notes, Jake apologized stating he would take a few minutes to correct the font color and show Bucky the updated version of the flyer for his final approval.

 

“Thanks doll,” he said as he smiled softly at you. “Guy wouldn’t shut up,” he added with a whisper.

 

“Gotta listen more for this to work, right?” you asked, remembering the words he had said as he began talking about his photographs.  

 

“Right,” he agreed with a slight blush on his cheeks. “Maybe I should tell him that. Seems to have worked with you,” he winked, seemingly completely recovered from his tiny bout of bashfulness.

–

 

You could barely hold your tears back as you laughed at the story Bucky was telling. After completing his list of errands, you had grabbed some takeout and had brought it back to the gallery where you were now eating on the floor, your backs against a wall, sitting side by side.

 

“That’s a lie,” you yelled out in between laughing fits. “Steve would never!”

 

“That punk latched onto whatever meathead he could find. Tried to fight his way through high school. Somehow feeling it was his moral obligation to defend everything and everyone. So yes, Steve could and did. All the time!”

 

“But he’s just the sweetest,” you said still unable to picture Steve fighting anybody. That man had a heart of pure gold.

 

“Maybe,” Bucky said. “But I have scars to prove just what a punk he could be. I had to stop multiple guys from beating him to a pulp. Gotta remember Steve wasn’t always as strong as he is now, but he somehow always acted that big and strong. Even when it meant getting his ass kicked.”

 

“Well how sweet. A punk and a jerk, defending each other,” you said with a teasing smile.

 

“I’m not a jerk,” he said as he playfully bumped your shoulder with his.

 

“Can’t debate facts, Buck,” you laughed.

 

“So now I’m Buck,” he pointed out. That nickname had never slipped from your lips. You always felt as if calling him that would make you sound too familiar with him. It never felt right, not like it did when you heard Steve or Sam call him that.

 

“Bucky,” you corrected, emphasizing the y-sound.

 

“Nope, you called me Buck. Can’t debate facts, doll.”

 

“Why do you call me that?” you asked, seeing as you were now talking about nicknames. “You’ve always called me that and I never knew why.”

 

“Call you doll?” he asked and continued as he saw you nod. “I don’t know. I just do. I think I called you that once accidentally and you nearly ripped my head off. Thought it was funny and I guess it just stuck.”

 

You thought back to the first time you remembered him calling you doll. You had been helping Steve get ready for a job interview when he had barged into Steve’s apartment, a common occurrence, you figured, judging by Steve’s lack of reaction. Sitting annoyingly close to you, he had proceeded to throw random questions at Steve as you tried to get in a few serious ones in. After telling him multiple times that only you were allowed to ask Steve questions, he turned to you and quietly said, “Y/N? Be a doll and ask Steve if animals could talk, which would be the rudest?” You had lost it at that, begging Steve to kick him out of his apartment if he was serious about rehearsing for his interview. Bucky had only laughed, though, letting himself out.

 

“If animals could talk, which _would_ be the rudest, Bucky?” you asked wondering if he remembered.

 

He looked over to you, a fond look in his eyes, one that was becoming more and more familiar, much to your surprise.

 

“Seagulls,” he answered without hesitation. A large smile spread across his lips and you wondered why things couldn’t be like this before. You and Bucky could’ve been great friends had he talked and treated you this way. Had you _both_ talked and treated each other this way. “What do you think? Which animal?”

 

“Turtles,” you quickly replied. “They have this condescending air to them.”

 

Bucky threw his head back as he laughed at your response. He closed his eyes, hand coming up to rest at his side. You couldn’t help but join him, his laugh was infectious. Such a bubbly and happy laugh and you wondered why all of this was suddenly becoming obvious. How his laugh could sound so different after spending just one day with him.

 

Suddenly the only thought that crowded your mind was, what if Craig _was_ right? Your laugh subsided, your smile fell, as nervousness suddenly flooded your senses. WHAT IF CRAIG WAS RIGHT?

 

You now understood why Bucky kept repeating that question last night. You understood how desperate and completely useless you felt against the question that now plagued your thoughts. What if all this time, there truly was something there, dormant, between you and Bucky. Just hiding behind layers of jokes and pretend hate. What if you had happily lived in ignorance of it. An ‘oh my god,” pushed past your lips at the realization that the question was slowly becoming no longer a ‘what if’ question. Because you knew that something _was_ here, in the air, in the space you shared with Bucky. Knew that his laugh had never sounded this nice because you hadn’t been paying attention to it. Knew that now that somebody, stupid Craig to make matters worse, had pointed it out, it was the only thing you could focus on.

 

While you were lost in your thoughts, Bucky’s laugh had also quieted. He looked at you in confusion. Watched as you mumbled a quiet ‘oh my god’.

 

Your eyes snapped to the side as you saw Bucky’s hand move. He paused as he caught sight of your eyes. Continuing after giving you a moment. He let his hand inch closer to yours, his hands gliding across the floor. You didn’t feel the need to move it, didn’t feel the need to yank it away , and it confused you. Because how could have everything shifted so quickly. Just this morning you were thinking about cancelling this errand run. Still, you saw his hand near yours. And the moment his fingers brushed yours, you knew Bucky had done something. Knew that you had done something. Knew that something had happened because your fingers just intertwined with his. Just like ‘Buck’ had slipped past your lips, bringing with it a new sense of familiarity and comfort, so did this new action. Holding his hand didn’t feel forced, didn’t feel unnatural. It just felt like you were holding Bucky’s hand. And the thought that something could feel this comfortable scared you. The realization that what you had called nerves, was really a chilling sensation that no longer reminded you of annoying ants crawling up your arm.

 

You heard him chuckle softly as he looked at your joined hands. His eyes came up to look into yours, looking for something, most likely some sort of hesitation.

 

“What if?” he asked, a soft smile on his lips.

 

“Yeah,” you whispered. “What if?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one is the last one!!! Thanks so much for all your lovely comments! I've enjoyed reading them! I hope you guys enjoy this one :)

What if

 

Those two little words had flipped your world upside down. From the very first time Bucky had said them, they had stirred something within you. And now, those words kept running through your head, just like they had apparently been running through his since he had seen the match. 

 

His reaction and how different it had been to yours when you had seen the notification had made you curious. The way his mind had taken so little time to wrap around the idea and see a slight possibility of there being something between the two of you was strange. You couldn’t understand why he was so willing to accept it, to almost ignore how much tension there had been between the two of you, but now you understood.

Because despite them being just two little, one-syllable words, ‘What If’, had immense power. They made you question what you saw now. Made you wonder how much you had missed. And made you curious about the future. Those two words had the power to cover your entire mind and the need to answer the question those two words asked, was much more intense than you had anticipated. 

 

You looked up the street taking in the people walking as Bucky locked up the gallery door behind him. The errands run had been successful, meaning the opening of his gallery to the public would take place in a few days, after giving him some time to spread the word. 

 

“You good?” Bucky asked causing you to look back on him. 

 

“Yeah,” you said softly, the feel of his hand in yours very much still present. 

 

“I was thinking,” he began.

 

“Uh-oh,” you almost instinctively cut him off. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

 

He gave you a charming smile, your eyebrows furrowing because suddenly his smile was charming?

 

“I kinda walked into that one, huh?” he laughed as you both began walking to his car. “As I was saying, I was thinking of maybe dropping off some of the flyers at different coffee places. Maybe they get the attention of more people that way.”

 

You considered his idea. Coffee places were mostly busy and the flyers he had been given were definitely eye-catching, so it seemed like a great idea.

 

“Sounds good,” you responded trying your best not to make things too awkward.

Holding his hand had made things clearer for you and had planted those two words in your mind so deep that digging them out was next to impossible. And you realized holding hands was not a major move, but it was major in the context of your situation. You had hated the man just a few days ago and now you were holding hands? And felt comfortable while doing it too?!

 

“I was kind of wondering,” Bucky said beside you, his eyes trained to his shoes as you both walked. “Maybe you could help me out tomorrow too?”

 

You parted your lips to respond but he interrupted before you even had the chance to begin forming a word.

 

“Before you say anything,” he said, grabbing your arm to stop you from walking. He gently moved you both to the side, leaning against the wall of a building, so as not to block those walking on the sidewalk. “Today, I mean, I didn’t know what to expect. I hoped it would be ok, you know? Maybe we would get along. Maybe even have a little bit of fun while hanging out. But I think today was more than that.” He reached for your hand once more and you found yourself reaching out for his too. With a gentle smile as your fingers intertwined he continued, “You can call tomorrow an errand run if you’d like. But maybe we can call it a date?”

 

You felt the heat rise to your cheeks as you tried to respond once more.

 

“There’s a lot to sort through, I know,” he said as he sent an apologetic look your way for interrupting once more. “It’s not easy to just forget all the shit that’s behind us, but I think we could do it. Look how much we did today!”

 

You laughed as you looked down to your joined hands. 

 

CURSE YOU CRAIG!!

 

“You still have a lot of apologizing to do,” you said with a smile at finally being able to speak. “I think that’s what you mean by ‘there’s still a lot to sort through’, right?”

 

“Absolutely,” he said with a chuckle.

 

“And you certainly can’t get things done on your own. I think you’d still be arguing with the guy from the flyers if it weren’t for me.”

 

“Would be completely lost without your help, doll. How I managed to put up a whole gallery on my own, without you, is beyond me.”

 

“Well you had Steve’s help,” you replied nonchalantly. “But he’s not here.”

 

“Steve came in at the end—”

 

“So, then I guess,” you began, ignoring him being mid-response, “I would be a terrible friend if I left you by yourself.”

 

“You would be,” he responded, playing along with your rationalization. “You know what would make you an even better friend, though?”

 

“If I forgot I should be receiving some commission when my picture sells?”

 

“If you went—” he paused as he begun laughing at your comment. “You said it was _my_ picture,” he reminded you. “And that picture is not for sale, sweetheart, so no commission for you either way.”

 

With your hand still in his, he pulled you forward a bit and begun walking once more towards his car. This time you were sure you were on the right track and positive he wouldn’t trick you into another walk back home. 

 

“So, you take a picture of me behind my back, literally. Put it up on display for everybody to see, and I don’t get anything out of it?”

 

“Well,” he drawled out the word, “I just offered you a date, so that could be something?”

 

The way he managed to bring back the conversation to this date was almost mesmerizing. Your teasing façade quickly faded, leaving room for your bashful-self to reappear. Pulling your hand softly away from his, you responded. 

 

“Friends don’t go on dates, Bucky,” you said wondering what his response would be. 

 

“We weren’t ever truly friends, though, doll,” he smirked. “So, this could only improve what little friendship we have.”

 

He was very good at finding loopholes. He had called today an errand run, so you shouldn’t have been surprised to see him work his loophole magic again.

“True,” you found yourself saying with a small smile. “I would’ve preferred the commission,” you teased hoping he wouldn’t be taking your answer too seriously. You relaxed a bit after you heard him chuckle. “And today was better than I had had ever expected too.” 

 

You left your sentence hang in the air, trying to get yourself to calm down. Despite your teasing exterior returning, your heart was pounding in your chest as you realized you were about to accept a date with Bucky Barnes. An official date.

 

“So?” Bucky asked quietly, slowing down as his car came into view. “Is that a yes?”

 

“I think it is,” you whispered despite you being more than sure in your mind.

–

 

With a promise to pick you up tomorrow morning Bucky had dropped you off at your place last night. And for a second night in a row you had gone to bed trying to quiet your mind as thoughts of Bucky would not cease from springing up. The more effort you put into NOT thinking about him, the more you DID think about him. 

 

You were sitting on your couch, the next morning, trying to focus on the movie you had chosen from Netflix, but the butterflies in your stomach wouldn’t let you even remember what movie you were supposed to be watching. You just watched as the characters moved from place to place, your feet nervously tapping the floor as you checked your phone every few minutes for a new message. 

 

Bucky would text at any minute and you seemed unable to sit still. Knowing it was no use to continue pretending to watch the film, you got up from your couch, smoothed your clothes (which had again taken you a while to figure out), and walked over to the kitchen. You figured munching on a few snacks wouldn’t hurt and might help settle the bubbling nerves in your stomach. 

 

 _It was just Bucky_ , you kept repeating in your mind. _And not the jerk Bucky you had known, but a sweeter Bucky who seemed more than willing to give whatever this was a try._

You repeated this mantra as you bit into a few cookies you found, careful not to get the crumbs all over your kitchen floor and your clothes. 

 

A sudden knock on your door pierced through the mantra and almost caused you to drop your cookie. Whoever it was, you hoped they would be gone soon seeing as Bucky was bound to text he was here. 

 

You scrambled to the door, opening without even checking who it was first, and nearly slammed the door shut out of surprise. 

 

Bucky stood there, a gentle smile on his lips, and a raised eyebrow finding humor in your reaction.

 

“Bucky?!” you said, the surprise evident in your voice. “I thought—I thought you would text.”

 

“Thought about it but then thought I could just come upstairs. I am a gentleman, doll,” He said playfully.  “Are you ready? Or do you need a couple more minutes?” he added as he let his eyes scan your figure.

 

“Umm…” you began, heart still pounding at the surprise and at the fact that Bucky was casually checking you out. You had figured if he texted, you would have enough time to settle down and present a much cooler exterior as you walked downstairs to meet him. But he was here. Now. So that plan was more than gone. “I just have to get my shoes and my purse.”

 

“Perfect,” he said. “Can I come inside?”

 

“Of course!” you said a little too loud as you stepped to the side clearing a path for him to come into your apartment. 

 

He had been in your place a few times. He would show up for small get-togethers with friends. Still, having him here, alone, as you got ready for your date, was a scenario you never thought possible. 

 

“So,” you heard his voice from the living room as you searched your room for your shoes. “I have the flyers in my car. We could drop them off at a few coffee places, maybe grab something to eat at one of them?”

 

“Yeah,” you called out from your room, frustration growing as you couldn’t find your left shoe. “That sounds good!”

 

You stepped back into the living room having finally found your left shoe under your bed. 

 

“Ready,” you stated as you grabbed your purse from your couch.

–

 

“So, let me get this straight? You called this guy up and basically yelled at him?”

 

You groaned, wondering why on earth you had even decided to bring up Craig in this conversation. You had left Bucky’s flyers at a few coffee places, spread the word through social media, and now you were currently drinking coffee at the same place Bucky had so rudely interrupted your morning with Nat and Wanda a few days ago. The place where you had infamously called Craig and let him have it, for what seemed like very pressing reasons at the time.

 

“I didn’t yell at him,” you lied, feeling yourself curling back into the chair. “I just said a few things. In a very calm tone.”

 

You had casually left out the fact that you had questioned the integrity of his marriage to save yourself from more humiliation.

 

“I don’t think so,” Bucky laughed, his nose pinching a bit as he put his cup of coffee down so as not to spill anything. “You yelled at the poor guy. What was his name, again?”

 

“Craig,” you muttered and the look of clear distaste on your face caused Bucky to laugh some more. “He told me he had met his wife on the site, Bucky! I mean who does that?”

 

“A man who believes in his algorithm, doll.”

 

“Yeah, maybe. But still, I couldn’t even think of you without rolling my eyes and he just mentions how he’s happily married. He could’ve said anything else and –”

 

“What about now? When you think of me what happens?”

 

You paused as you heard his question. He looked so sincere. Genuine curiosity across his features as his eyes widened a bit and his head tilted to the side. He picked up his coffee cup once more raising his eyebrow to let you know he was not just going to let his question go unanswered. With a sly smirk he took a sip of his coffee.

 

“I yelled at the guy two mornings ago,” you began, gauging his reaction as you continued. “His sophisticated algorithm matched me, no, soulmate-level matched me,” you corrected, “with the one guy I couldn’t stand. The guy who had been nothing but a jerk to me since the very first time I met him.”

 

“And I apologized for that,” he said quietly still hiding behind his coffee cup.

 

“You did,” you admitted.

 

You couldn’t deny that when his name popped into your mind a few new things happened before you rolled your eyes. Your stomach would suddenly become full of butterflies. Your mind would flash back to the way he had so gently scooted his hand over to hold yours. The words he had said to you on your walk back home would replay, forcing you to focus on them and not all the others that had been muttered throughout the years you had known him for. And then all those times he had joked and pranked at your expense would flood your thoughts.

 

“And I’ll keep apologizing,” he said more firmly. “I know I have to. So, I’m sorry Y/N.”

 

You smiled at his honest apology, silently accepting it.

 

“So, I don’t necessarily roll my eyes immediately when I think of you,” you laughed. “But the urge is still there. You’re a dork, Barnes.”

 

“I’m not the one who called poor Craig and yelled at him.”

 

“No, but you scrambled to put my picture up and basically dangled off a ferris wheel for me.”

 

“Is that what qualifies as a dork?”

 

“Sure is,” you smirked as you took a sip of your coffee.

 

“Well then I’m a dork,” he said with a laugh. “But maybe you should call Craig up and apologize.”

 

“For questioning the validity of his marriage?” an annoyingly familiar voice chimed in, causing you to choke on the sip of coffee you had just taken.

 

Turning, you found a very suspicious looking Nat looking down at you and Bucky as she stood behind your chair. Her straight hair fell perfectly around her face hitting just below her chin, casting a shadow on her features and making her look even more menacing. You hadn’t exactly told Nat or Wanda that you and Bucky were giving this a try. You needed more time to accept that fact yourself and you were not about to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had sort of been right as they pushed you into “learning something new”.

 

“Wait what?” Bucky asked, leaning forward across the table as his interest in the topic piqued once more.

 

“Oh shit,” Nat said gently grabbing your shoulder from where she stood behind you as if to say she was truly sorry for putting her foot in her mouth.

 

“You did what?” Bucky asked again, his question melting into another bout of laughter.

 

“I did nothing,” you snapped back, your gaze hardening as you looked back to Nat.

 

“She did nothing,” Nat tried to confirm but it was already too late. “But what’s this? Playing nice, are we?”

 

You almost laughed at how the tables had turned. Just a few days ago it was Bucky interrupting your morning with Nat and Wanda. You had done nothing but wish he just left and stopped annoying you. And now, Nat was the one getting on your nerves and interrupting your morning with Bucky.

 

“You could say that,” Bucky answered for the both of you after his laughter settled. His eyes landed on you and the feel of his gaze on you pulled your eyes away from Nat. “Y/N is helping me with getting my gallery ready for the public. I’m kind of bribing her to help with coffee.”

 

You raised your eyebrows at his description of what was happening. He seemed to understand your hesitation to let the redhead in on what was happening between you and him.

 

“Ah,” Nat nodded her head. “But you know about Craig?”

 

Bucky’s eyes darted back and forth between you and Nat not knowing how to answer that question.

 

“Where’s Wanda?” you asked hoping it would more than hint at Nat your need to move on from the topic.

 

“Her place, I think,” Nat replied with a smirk. “Well, I know how to read a room. I’ll leave you two alone. Bye Y/N and Bucky. Hmm…” she pretended to ponder on what she had just said, “Y/N and Bucky, has a nice ring to it.”

 

She quickly walked away from your table as she heard you groan and Bucky give a slight chuckle.

 

“Sorry,” you said to Bucky. “She can be intense.”

 

“I knew she could be intense, so I’m not surprised, but you! Sweet and so level-headed. You, Y/N, who would rather run away to avoid any type of confrontation. You questioned Craig’s marriage over our match? How much did you hate me?”

 

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” you tried to justify your actions. “I kind of panicked when I saw we matched. I mean, Nat and Wanda convinced me to join that site and I never expected to even run across your profile. I knew you were on a dating site. Sam made sure to tell me about you joining one right away.” You saw as Bucky rolled his eyes at the mention of Sam informing you. “He kept telling me how for a guy who thought he was as irresistible as Chris Hemsworth you sure couldn’t get a date.”

 

“Alright,” Bucky waved his wands trying to get you to move on.

 

You laughed quietly at his reaction.

 

“And he might’ve mentioned what site you were on, but I didn’t remember. And then I saw that profile picture. I mean, seriously?”

 

“I already told you that picture is a work of art. You have no idea how hard it was to take.”

 

“So, I called Craig. Told him the match I had received was no good and he tried to calm me down by saying he had met his wife on the site! Suggesting the same could happen for us! I may or may not have called his marriage a sham.”

 

“You know, I have many regrets,” Bucky chimed in, an unexpected serious look on his face. “I regret the way this friendship started. I know I should’ve been nicer. But do you know what my biggest regret is?”

 

“Your profile picture? This coffee outing?”

 

“No! Not my masterpiece and not our coffee date,” he corrected with a smile. “Leaving this place before I got a chance to see this epic reaction of yours.”

 

“That’s not funny,” you said as you tried to fight off a smile.

–

 

“Let’s play a game,” Bucky broke the comfortable silence that had fallen over the two of you as he drove.

 

After being interrupted by Nat at the coffee place, you had decided it was best to continue your time together somewhere a bit less frequented. You had gotten in his car and were approaching a now familiar place to the both of you.

 

“What game?” you asked suspiciously peeking at him from the passenger seat.

 

“The one thing we’ve been thinking these last few days has been how we’ve been nothing but mean to the other, right?”

 

“Yes,” you responded, your eyebrows scrunching up as you had no idea where he was going with this. 

 

“So, let’s play a game where we do the opposite. Take turns saying nice things about the other.”

 

You thought about it as he pulled into a parking spot that wasn’t too far from your destination. Being in New York meant you took whatever parking spot you could find and didn’t complain about it too much. 

 

“I’ll go first,” he said as he turned the car off and unbuckled. 

 

You mimicked his actions, gathering your purse and unbuckling your seatbelt. He turned his body towards you in his seat, a relaxed posture you hoped you could also mimic seeing as how you were once again nervous for what he was about to say. 

 

“The first time I met you, “he began, pausing a bit to laugh at the way he had acted. “I really did think you were Mia and had trouble understanding why Steve would ever be with someone so horrible—"

 

“I thought we were being nice,” you interrupted. 

 

“Gotta let me finish, sweetheart,” he said with mock disapproval. “But I couldn’t help but note that you were beautiful and figured that would be part of the reason why Steve would look past the terrible attitude I thought you had.”

 

Oh boy. You looked out your passenger window trying to gather yourself now and not just your things. This was the first actual compliment he had given you and you were unsure how to react. Your mind was trying to decide whether to retaliate with a witty comment or accept it graciously.

 

“Umm,” you finally replied. “Thanks?”

 

Your lack of commitment to that answer didn’t go unnoticed by Bucky who gave you a light laugh and a playful roll of his eyes.

 

“Your turn,” he prompted making your shift your gaze again trying to relax.

 

“I think you’re an excellent photographer,” you said softly, unable to share with him exactly what had crossed your mind the first time you saw him before he ruined it all with his words.  

 

“Thanks,” he said confidently and much quicker than you had responded. “I think you’re an excellent friend. You’re someone who you could depend on and trust. Unless you’re Craig, of course,” he added with a wink.

 

“Craig is not a friend,” you tried to defend yourself. “But, I think you’re an excellent friend too. I mean, at least to Steve and Sam. Those guys would probably die for you.”

 

“I brought my camera,” he said apparently pausing the game for a while as he reached underneath the back seats. “We could take pictures. Maybe start working on a new collection,” he wiggled his eyebrows clearly amused with the idea.

 

He pulled out a camera case and opened his door, rushing over to your side of the car as he saw you opening yours too.

 

“I told you I was a gentleman,” he laughed as you rolled your eyes at him for not letting you open your own door. “My ma would pull me by the ears if she saw me not getting the door for you.”

 

“Your ma didn’t seem to mind what a jerk you were before,” you teased as he closed the door of his car behind you.

 

“She did mind and don’t think Steve didn’t tell her about it. That punk, who you say would die for me, has no trouble putting me in actual danger by getting my mom pissed at me. I may be an adult, but she has no issue putting me in my place. She might’ve beat Craig to the punch and mentioned something about us before he did.”

 

You scrunched up your nose in distaste at the mention of Craig, an almost involuntary reaction, now. Yeah, it seemed he had been right but that didn’t mean you couldn’t still carry on this mock-dislike towards him. Although, you really should apologize.

 

“Well then,” you laughed. “My next compliment is that you have an amazing mother.”

 

“Not the compliment I was looking for,” he chuckled as you both walked toward the front gate of your favorite place. “But very true.”

 

The small wooden gate greeted you both like an old friend. You hadn’t ever knowingly entered this place with somebody else. It had granted you peace on many occasions. You would find your feet carrying you here after a long day at work or after a bad breakup. It would ease away the tension. This little community garden rested within of one of the biggest cities in the word, yet it felt as if it was isolated, away from all the stress and noise that existed in the city. Stepping in here was like stepping onto a new world, one where you could be alone with your thoughts. And now you were sharing that with Bucky. His usually loud voice and obnoxious comments, now softened into caring whispers. His bigger than life attitude, reduced to a still unique but much more approachable and likeable version.

 

He reached out to unlock the gate and let you in following close behind. You heard his shoes softly step in the stone path that led to your favorite bench; the one in front of the patch of flowers. The realization that this didn’t feel wrong, that having him here with you didn’t make your skin crawl, hit you. The fact that you were so willingly sharing this space, your space, with him, made a small smile appear on your lips because you knew that ‘What if’ was no longer really a question you needed to answer. ‘What if’ had become ‘what is’.

 

 

“I like the way you find beauty in this place,” Bucky said as you both took a seat on your bench. “I like that you can look at this patch of flowers and find peace.”

 

“The first time I met you,” you said, surprised by how this place seemed to pump encouragement to speak your mind freely. “Before you spoke,” you laughed, “I thought you were very handsome.”

 

A wide smile appeared on Bucky’s lips, his gaze fell onto his lap, an adorable blush appearing on his cheeks as he tried to occupy his hands by fidgeting with his hair.

 

“Thanks?” he said, laughing as he realized that had been your same response to his earlier compliment.

 

“Not so easy, huh?” you laughed with him.

 

He began to open the case where his camera rested, gently setting it down next to him on the bench. He eased out the camera asking you to hold it as he pulled out several lenses and a small tripod.

 

“I like,” he began, his confidence returning after a small leave of absence because of your compliment, “Us.”

 

You let the last word ring in your ear for what felt like hours. A smile began spreading on your lips as he took the camera from your hands and set it on top of the case. He gently shifted so that he faced you entirely and took your hands in his, his thumb rubbing soothing circles.

 

“I like,” he continued, his voice growing stronger as he went on, “how we’re giving this a try. How right and comfortable it feels. Doll, please correct me if I’m wrong, but this feels right, doesn’t it?” He let his eyes find yours and finding no resistance he went on, “Your hands in mine, feels right. Spending time with you, feels right. And there was a moment when I thought this could not be happening. Where I thought that looking forward to spending time with you was crazy. But I look at you know. See how your hands fit so perfectly in mine and think that what was crazy is how we didn’t figure this out sooner. How I spent so much time making an idiot out of myself when I could’ve been holding your hands all along.”

 

“Buck,” you whispered feeling yourself leaning into him as you turned your body to reflect his posture.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll keep saying that till I make up for everything stupid I did. But I think Nat had a point. Y/N and Bucky does have a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I’m sure as hell loving the sound of it. So, if you’ll have me, Y/N, nothing would make me happier than if you gave me the chance to treat you the way I should’ve treated you all along. To let you know, not just through pictures, but through my actions and words, how much I am now seeing I care for you. Because if I’m honest, darling, I didn’t know how much of my heart was already yours.”

 

You took a deep breath trying to steady your heart and mind. Trying to find an appropriate enough response to what Bucky had so effortlessly said.

 

“It was there all along,” he said quietly. “I just couldn’t see it.”

 

He smiled softly at you, eyes wide waiting to hear your response. But a response never came. At least not a response he was expecting because instead of speaking, instead of surely stuttering your way through an answer, you leaned in further towards him, eyes questioningly looking down at his lips for a second before he understood and leaned in to meet you halfway.

 

His lips pressed softly on yours, a smile evident as he parted your lips and hesitantly deepened the kiss. You had once thought he was handsome, your first thoughts when seeing him being how soft his lips looked, the way his hair framed his face perfectly as he took off his helmet and stepped off his motorcycle. You would be lying if you said you hadn’t imagined how his lips would feel against yours. But that spell had broken not a few seconds after. His cocky attitude muddying up whatever image you had painted of him in those brief moments before he spoke. But now here you were, lips softly dancing with his, sighing at the way he still tasted like coffee. His lips casting a new spell over you. One that you knew wouldn’t break anytime soon. Because his lips no longer held spitefulness, no longer held jokes, no longer held arrogance. They held a sweetness you hadn’t felt before. Held a vulnerability you hadn’t been prepared for. They held your own lips, your heart, your mind. They held you.

 

With a quick peck, he parted leaving a bit of distance between the two of you, forehead still resting on yours. His hands left their place where they still rested in yours, reaching up to softly caress your cheek.

 

Your head was spinning, eyes still closed, the lack of air combined with the emotion packed into that first kiss – first of many, you found yourself thinking—all too much.

 

Slowly opening your eyes, you looked into his, so close, so blue, so pretty.

 

“Want to run errands with me. Officially?” he asked quietly as he gently bumped your nose with his, a playful smile appearing on the lips you had just kissed.

 

“I want to run errands with you,” you whispered back. “Officially.”

 

“Perfect,” he said as he placed a gentle peck on your cheek.

 

He shifted you both so that you sat side-by-side, your head resting on his shoulder.

 

“We really are like this patch of flowers,” he said as you both looked out to the array of colorful flowers, reminding you of the words he had said on your walk back home. “Hidden, overlooked, but finally appreciated.”

 

Your gaze jumped from flower to flower, processing his words, his kiss, finding yourself only nodding in agreement.

 

“Give me a sec,” he said, as he moved away from you, grabbing the camera he had set aside and the tripod.

 

Walking behind you, you followed him with your gaze, turning your head and saw as he extended the tripod, fidgeting with it until his camera was securely screwed onto the top.

 

“The beginning of a new collection,” he winked. “We have ten seconds to get this shot perfect. You’ll see how hard it is and what a masterpiece my profile pic really is.”

 

After setting the camera timer, he rushed back over to your side, quickly directing you so your posture was similar to the one on the picture he had hung in his gallery, he took his place at your side. After hearing the camera shutter, he walked back to see the picture laughing as he observed it.

 

“Perfect shot,” he said as he handed you the camera to look at the picture on the screen. “We really do make a great team.”

 

You laughed as you saw the picture. 

 

You were looking at the flowers, just like you had on the original picture, but this time he sat beside you. His eyes trained not on the patch of flowers but on you. A similar soft expression on his eyes. 

 

“I thought you said this was hard,” you teased. 

 

“Well like Rick said,” he smiled. “A photographer is only as good as his muse. And my muse is breathtaking.”

 

“You’re a sap,” you laughed, heat rising on your cheeks.

 

“A dork, a sap, a jerk. Whatever you want me to be, as long as I’m yours.”

 

You were left speechless, at his response, a reaction Bucky took advantage of by pulling you to rest your head on his shoulder again. 

 

That picture might be the beginning of a new collection. Or it might not. But you knew that this moment was definitely the beginning of something new. Something that, as Bucky had said, had finally stopped being overlooked. 


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is!! Thanks to you all for reading this series and for leaving such lovely comments! I was a bit intimidated by AO3 but you guys have truly given me an incredibly warm welcome! Thank you so much for all the support with this series! I hope you enjoy this last bit and thanks, as always, for reading :)

Your tendency to get ready at the last minute was apparently going to stay with you for the rest of your life. No matter how much time to tried you set apart for it, you always ended being distracted.

Sometimes it was a YouTube video, others a Netflix movie, your phone, or the lack of interest of going out. But today, the distraction didn’t come from a screen, it came from the obnoxious man-child to your right who didn’t seem to care you were meeting Nat and Wanda in five minutes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” you said as you tried to get up from your place on the couch only to be brought back down by a pair of strong and needy arms. “Nat is going to kill me.”

“I won’t let her,” Bucky tried to reassure you, his voice laced with the sleep he hadn’t been able to shake.

Despite the fighting words, his sleepy voice portrayed the fierceness of a puppy. He had gotten up early to stop by your apartment before you left, hoping to spend as much time with you as possible before he left for LA to scout some potential gallery sites in a few weeks. He draped his arms along the back of the sofa, making sure to hold you close to his side.

“As much fun as it would be to see just how badly she could kick your ass, I kind of like you bud, so I’d rather not let it get that far.”

“That’s so embarrassing,” he laughed, nose scrunching up in that adorable way that was so Bucky.

“What is?” you asked, momentarily lost in the way his laugh made your heart beat faster.

“You like me,” he whispered as he booped your nose, and you rolled your eyes.

“I said kind of,” you pointed out. “And besides you’ve used another certain L-word before and I haven’t laughed,” you said as you playfully poked his side trying to get his hold on you to break.

“Another L-word?” he pretended to think about your statement, teasingly looking disappointed at your feeble attempts to get up. “Light? Like when I ask you to help me with the lighting in my photographs?”

“Yeah, light,” you played along trying once more to get up.

“You know,” he began, “you’ve used that L-word too.”

“Light?” you dramatically asked. “I mean, I guess. It would be pretty hard to get through life without saying that word at least once, right?”

He smiled that soft smile that had so unexpectedly captured your heart. That sincere smile that let you see beyond the façade he had set up. The one that had caused you to fall for the sweet and soft sap he truly was.

“Don’t smile at me like that, Barnes,” you said trying your best to sound serious despite the huge smile that spread across your own lips. “I have to get up.”

“I could go for some coffee too, doll,” he yawned, his arm finally let go of you and you quickly got up not fully trusting he wouldn’t pull you back down once more.

“Then come,” you said as you walked to your closet.

“I wouldn’t be intruding too much on your time with Nat and Wanda?”

“I’m sure they’d underst—”

Your sentence was cut off by knocks. A particular set of knocks that made the person behind them unmistakable. You looked to Bucky whose expression you knew probably matched yours. His eyes were wide, knowing very well that a red-head stood at the other side of the door expecting you to be ready.

“Shit,” you said as you grabbed whatever clothes you could and ran to the restroom. “Tell them I’m just fixing my hair!” you said before closing your bathroom door.

You heard Bucky’s muffled greeting to your friends. So much for his promise to protect you, you thought.

Things had been going well between the two of you. Although you were sure he would have most likely abandoned his promise to stand in between you and Nat, he had kept his word to treat you well and apologize for his past-self every time he was reminded of his jokes and pranks. Causally watching The Notebook had been impossible as every time Noah’s name had come up, Bucky would sigh and hide his face behind his hands. He had laughed at the Ferris Wheel scene, though.

Luck seemed to be on your side as you realized the clothes you had quickly grabbed didn’t look too bad. You smoothed your hair as best as you could and stepped out, finding your friends mid-conversation with Bucky.

“We were actually going to ask if you’d like to come,” Wanda said to Bucky, shooting a smile your way when she saw you step out.

“We know you’re leaving in a bit and thought it would be fun to hang out before your trip,” Nat chimed in.

“Well, that’s great!” Bucky smiled, hand reaching out for yours. “Then let’s go get caffeinated.”  
–

“So how long are you leaving for?” Wanda asked from her place on the table. You were all seated at a round table at your favorite coffee place.

“About three weeks,” Bucky replied, eyes casted downward as he thought about leaving for almost a month. “I set up a few appointments with owners of gallery spaces to see if they’d work for my collection and the way I set it up.”

“This is the first time you’d be apart, huh?” Nat questioned as she took in both of your solemn expressions. “In the almost year you’ve been together?”

“Yeah,” you said. “We’ll be ok, though. He’s coming back. You are coming back, right?”

“I am,” Bucky chuckled. “LA is sunny and has great weather, but something back here is more important to me.”

“Gah, you guys are gross,” Nat closed her eyes and violently shook her head. “Can’t believe you thought you hated him,” she laughed as she opened her eyes to look to you.

“Bucky is the worst,” Wanda mimicked what you would often say to them about Bucky. “He’s annoying, has always been annoying, and will alwa—”

“Ok!” you cut her off much to Nat’s delight. “We get it.”

“I don’t think I’ve actually heard that one,” Bucky laughed as he waved his hands to get Wanda to continue. “That’s a spot-on impression, by the way Wan,” he teased.

“Hey Wanda?” Nat suddenly asked. “Can you help me with something? I want to order that one pastry you got last time remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Wanda said causing the alarms in your head to go off. These two were planning something. You recognized that tone in their voices. The one they had when they started the online profile for you. “We’ll be right back,” they said in unison causing you to pierce your eyes as they headed to look over the pastry options.

“Those two are up to something,” you said to Bucky who followed your gaze to where Nat and Wanda seemingly innocently stood.

Bucky was about to respond when he looked up to see a man smiling down at you both. He stood by Bucky, a giant grin on his face and you noticed Bucky’s shoulders square up clearly caught off guard by the intruding presence.

The man wore a striped polo shirt that he had tucked into his pants. His glasses sat almost at the tip of his nose causing him to reach up to push them back up. He looked like the stereotypical dad that would often be portrayed in sitcoms. The one you rolled your eyes at when his teenage kids would outsmart him.

“Can I help you?” Bucky asked as he locked eyes with the man.

The man’s smile grew wider and although it seemed like a kind smile, you couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

“That’s usually my line,” the man finally spoke up. His voice somehow sounding familiar despite this being the first time you saw him.

“Excuse me?” Bucky questioned, confusion evident not only in his voice but across his features.

“Hi,” the man extended his hand towards Bucky, “I’m Craig from whosyourmate.com. ‘Can I help you?’ is usually what I say.”

Your jaw dropped. This could not be happening.

You had tried to call Craig to apologize, yet you somehow always either missed him or wouldn’t get through. After a few attempts, you figured your efforts should count even though you hadn’t officially apologized.

You saw as Bucky shook Craig’s hand, standing up as he laughed and gave him a hug.

“Craig!” Bucky said as he patted Craig’s back. “My god have I heard so much about you.”

Your mind was trying to catch up with what was happening. Somehow your eyes found Nat and Wanda who still stood by the pastries, yet this time they weren’t looking at the sweet treats, they were looking at you, taking bows at the work they had done.

“I figure you must be Y/N,” Craig looked at you and your eyes snapped back to where he stood.

You slowly nodded unable to find the words to communicate that you were in fact Y/N.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he said, offering you his hand to shake.

You shook his hand, quickly looking at Bucky whose smile couldn’t be bigger if he tried.

“Yes,” you finally managed to say. “Nice to meet you.”

“I got a few messages saying that a Y/N had been calling specifically asking for me,” he chuckled. “I’m sure you’d understand I was trying to give you some time to cool down.”

You groaned as Bucky asked Craig to have a seat at your table.

“I was trying to apologize,” you said as you looked at Craig who was now sitting directly across from you. “I know what I said was out of line and I wanted to apologize for that.”

“It’s no problem,” he tried to reassure you. “I’ve heard a bit of your story and understand why that was your first reaction.”

“Yeah, I was an ass,” Bucky laughed. “That’s partially on me. But I’ve always wondered why the site paired us up. Our interests didn’t really match.”

“Well, there’s a lot of factors that come into play when creating the matches. Interest don’t have to match exactly. They can be in the same ballpark. For example, some interests could be filed under an artistic umbrella and if you have enough similar ones, that increases your chances of matching. Of if you’ve read similar books or seem to have a fondness for a particular genre. Things like that. But soulmate-level matches, which is what you guys got, aren’t that common. A lot of stars have to align to get one of those.”

“Your marriage is fine, though, right?” you felt compelled to ask. “It didn’t like crumble or anything after I called it a sham?”

The laugh that came from Craig made you feel a little better. He wouldn’t be laughing if his amazing marriage had disappeared by your harsh comments.

“No, not by a long shot,” Craig said with a warm smile. “I’ve heard it all, Y/N. It comes with the job, so don’t worry.”

“I’m still very sorry,” you said once more.

“I wasn’t there to witness that epic day,” Bucky teased. “But you’re here now, so thanks for whatever part you had in getting us both to see what had been right in front of us.”

“Well I didn’t have much to do with the actual match,” Craig replied. “But since soulmate-level matches are so uncommon I had a hunch you two would have a spark just waiting to be ignited.”

“Why are you here?” you asked hoping it didn’t sound rude as that was not what you had intended.

“Well it had been a while since your last call, so I was surprised to get a call transferred to me from you.”

Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You, however, had an idea of who had actually called.

“But it wasn’t you,” Craig continued. “Your friend Wanda finally got through to me and gave me a quick update on your story. I gloated a bit, I won’t lie, but I was happy to hear things had worked out.”

“Maximoff,” Bucky muttered followed by another hearty laugh.

“She mentioned you guys might be perfect for a little something for the site? Your photographic talent might have been brought up,” Craig said as he looked to Bucky.

“Wait what?” you asked incredulously.

“See, we like to feature stories of matches that have worked out. Especially ones that start with skepticism. You guys have a fun story, and James? Maybe you could take some photographs for us of you two. We’d compensate you, of course, as the photographer.”

You could not believe what you were hearing. Bucky seemed to be taking all of this better than you were. His eyes were focused on Craig, as he continued to explain what he was hoping you two would do for the site. Anything regarding photography would immediately capture his attention, he would perk up and start envisioning what types of photographs he’d be able to capture, what type of lenses would work best, what type of lighting he would use.

“It would be a great way to apologize,” Craig said with a laugh. “In case you still wanted to.”

An excited Bucky turned to face you, clearly more than ready to accept.

“Talk it over,” you heard Craig say as he started to get up from the table. “I think your story would be great to share, so let me know if you’d like to go through with it. Either way, it was lovely to meet you both.”

With another quick handshake, Craig waved you both goodbye and left the coffee place. Your mind was still racing. Craig, the man you had cursed for days had been in front of you. You had shaken his hand and he had asked to feature your story on the site. There wasn’t single part of what had just happened that seemed real.

“What are you thinking?” Bucky asked, his eyes hopeful most likely wishing you would agree.

“Where on earth did he come from?” you asked as you still fought your mind to find some sort of logic to Craig’s visit.

Bucky chuckled, “I agree, it was sudden. I mean, your arch-nemesis stood in front of us and you chose not to vaporize him!” he teased. “But what do you think of his proposal?”

“I don’t know, Buck,” you admitted with a sigh. “This was Nat and Wanda’s brainchild, I wasn’t ready for it. And besides, seeing our faces splashed across a dating site doesn’t seem to be the most fun.”

“So, you’d rather not do it?” Bucky asked.

“What are you thinking?” you responded with his original question instead.

“I think it would be nice,” he whispered. “A nice way to end that chapter, you know. The site helped us see something that we hadn’t before, maybe our story convinces others to not be so quick to judge.”

“You want to do it?”

“A little,” he admitted.

Bucky did have a point. It would be nice to close off that part of your relationship with a bit of a celebration. A way of coming to terms with the fact that despite your beginning hesitation, the match was correct. And maybe doing this for Craig would help some of the guilt that was still lingering in your mind for the cruel words you spoke to him.

“We don’t have to do it,” Bucky said, shifting closer to you.

You looked to him, his eyes always so mesmerizing. The thought of what he would come up with for this photo session was tantalizing.

With a smile you responded, “Let’s do it!”  
–

A few days later you stood next to Bucky in his bedroom laughing at his reaction as he read the new email from Craig.

“Did you tell him?” Bucky asked with a laugh as he noted just how amused you were.

You moved to sit on the edge of his bed, still trying to quiet your laughter.

Bucky’s eyes had widened, and he had let out a groan you were sure people across the street had heard when he read Craig’s most recent update. After letting him know you were both on board, he had begun setting up locations for the photoshoot and organizing a time and place for a more in-depth interview. Apparently, his bosses had loved the idea of featuring your story and had given him full control of the project, most likely after having to hear how you had treated him initially. This was a promotion of sorts for Craig and his excitement was beyond notable. No longer was he just a customer service rep, now he was working his way up into the site’s marketing department because who knew of more stories to feature than the poor customer service reps who had to listen to them over the phone. Craig would email you with the most recent details and he had just emailed you his proposed location for the pictures.

“I said nothing,” you replied to Bucky’s question. “I promise.”

Bucky sat beside you on the bed eyeing you suspiciously.

“I don’t know if I believe you, doll,” he teased. “It’s too big of a coincidence that Craig chose a freaking Ferris Wheel for the photoshoot. I’m starting to see why you didn’t like him.”

You threw your head back in laughter. Bucky had created a personal vendetta with Ferris Wheels and the thought of having to take photographs at Coney Island’s famed Ferris Wheel was not the way he had thought this would be going.

He looked down at his phone once more, scanning to see if he had missed another proposed location.

“You know, you could propose a location of your own. He did hire you as the photographer, Buck. You could get out of facing your disdain for the epitome of symbolic romanticism at fairs,” you said after catching your breath.

“I _will_ propose my own location,” he began, and the tone of his voice let you know he was ready to fire back at your comment. “Maybe we can take pictures at the Turtle Pond in Central Park. I’m sure the sunsets look beautiful from there.”

Your face twisted into a mock look of disgust as you bumped your shoulder to his. He chuckled at your response.

“Nope, never,” you exaggerated. “But think how cute it would be to dress up in 1940’s costumes and live out your secret Notebook fantasy on the Ferris Wheel,” you said as seriously as you could.

“Oh, I have a secret Notebook fantasy?” he said letting his voice get higher than usual. “Before me, your idea of romance was a guy guilting a girl into a date.”

“Oh yeah?” you pushed back. “And now what’s my idea of romance?”

“It’s simple. You and Me, as we are. Terrible taste in movies and all,” he laughed.

You rested your head on his shoulder. The almost year you had been together for had been more than you could have ever expected. Letting yourself feel around Bucky and accepting the fact that there was more than you had originally thought, allowed you both to be wrapped up in a romance like no other. He was sweet, sneaking pictures of you here and there for his own personal collection. His terrible jokes always managed to get the most obnoxious laugh out of you causing his own to bubble up from his chest. And his always sappy comments made your heart melt.

The teasing side of your relationship had never left. It was easy to joke with him, knowing it was now coming from a place of love.

Yes, love, because that is exactly what this had grown into. It had been clear to you, way before he had muttered those three little words. You were both trying your best not to rush things. Trying to take things slow as you felt your way around a brand-new territory for the both of you. But it had become undeniable. Your hand reached for his involuntarily. Your eyes would scan a room until they locked with his, lips spreading into a warm and genuine smile as you made your way to be next to the other. His kisses had begun to carry more and more emotion, somehow silently whispering and hinting the fact that love had settled into your relationship. Your friends began to notice as well. Sam would protest every time you came to Bucky’s defense, turning your teasing comments onto Sam. Steve would causally comment how it had always been his idea to get you both together. Assuring that had been his thought process behind introducing you to Bucky only to have it spectacularly fail in front of his eyes as his friend had taken on a jerk-persona.

Your lives had completely changed. The strange sensation of having Bucky in your apartment had shifted into it feeling weird when he wasn’t around. The many pictures he had taken were present in all the corners of your apartment. A framed copy of the image of the subway station you had been so mesmerized by in his gallery, now decorated your wall.

True to his word, he had not sold the image of you in your favorite place. He had placed a smaller version of it on his nightstand along with the picture of you both that he had taken on your first official date.

The thought of those images gave you an idea. You picked up your head from Bucky’s shoulder and looked to where the pictures rested.

“What if we take them at the garden?” you said softly, eyes still trained on the pictures.

“Your garden?” He asked, stressing the first word and following your gaze. The name of the garden had also changed. From your community garden, to it simply being known as ‘your’ garden despite the fact that you had never actually planted anything in it. His gaze returned to you, dropping for a second to your lips before he leaned in and pressed a soft peck. “That’s too yours to share with Craig,” he whispered resting his forehead on yours, adding a wink before he leaned back to his previous position.

You smiled at his response.

“Well, we’ve been running errands for almost a year,” you chuckled as you spoke the peculiar way he had decided to describe your relationship. “Any other special place that comes to mind?”

“Holy shit!” he suddenly said as jumped up from the bed. “That’s it! We could take pictures just running errands around the city! It would be an inside joke and also a pretty accurate description of our type of romance. No dependency on Ferris Wheels, just us being together.”

You felt as a grin spread across your lips, Bucky’s excitement was too contagious for you not to shoot up from the bed and join him where he stood almost bouncing up and down.

“Yes!” you shouted excitedly. “That’s perfect!”  
–

“It’s up!” Bucky shouted after refreshing the homepage of whosyourmate.com for almost an hour. His trip to LA had been successful, plans were already being drafted for the gallery he was hoping to set up there.

You raced from your kitchen and almost landed on Bucky as you jumped onto the couch.

“I love the way the light is hitting you in this shot, love” Bucky said as he pointed to the way your hair was lit up by the sun behind you both in the picture.

You had taken what seemed to be thousands of pictures, even though Bucky assured you it hadn’t been that many, all throughout New York. Dressed casually, you both had visited coffee shops, parts of Central Park (avoiding the Turtle Pond at all costs), had walked past the site of his first gallery, stopped by the place where he had gotten his flyers, and had even posed for a picture reminiscent of his terrible profile shot, that last one had been mostly for fun but had been submitted to the site to see if they would actually pick it.

The one they had chosen to display on the homepage had been one where you were both entering a coffee place, the one by Bucky’s first gallery. Bucky looked back to you with a smile as he held the door open for you. The inside of the coffee place was blurred, leaving the focus of the image just on you both. The browns and warm tones of the inside provided a nice contrast to the cool tones you both had chosen to wear. The lighting the sun provided from behind created an aura around you that Bucky loved and had pointed out as you took the picture. His compliment had caused a genuine smile to form on your lips, the perfect smile for this perfect shot.

Beside your image stood a title in bold, capital letters. One that perfectly described the way your love story began; “WHAT IF?”

“Click it!” you said as you urged him to click the link that would lead you to the actual story.

“Oh my god!” Bucky said with a laugh as the page with the story loaded and he noticed the site had actually published the gag picture of you both leaning on his bike to accompany your story. “It’s amazing,” he added.

You joined him in laughing.

“What if?” Bucky began reading the story. “James and Y/N discovered the power of those two little words when they saw themselves being matched on this site. Their story began not when our site decided to match them, but years before when a mutual friend introduced them…”

_“He was a complete jerk,” Y/N says as she looks to James who lowers his head in shame. “He supposedly thought I was somebody else and decided to give me the cold-shoulder. Although in retrospect it was more than just a cold-shoulder, it was full on ass-ery.”_

_This causes James to chuckle and finally bring up his head._

_The normal jitters and excitement of a new match were overshadowed by different yet just as powerful emotions. They had remained in each other’s lives after that failed first meeting mostly due to their love for their mutual friend. Instead of excitement, Y/N admits to feeling dread at seeing who the site had matched her with only minutes after opening her online profile._

_It’s important to note that their match is not like most. For one, they knew each other in real life before being matched. They also received a soulmate-level match, otherwise known as the ultra-rare level of connection our algorithm detects._

_“I thought it was funny, at first,” James admits. “The irony of the site thinking I had a soulmate-level connection with the girl who hated me the most.”_

_Y/N on the other hand did not think it was funny. Not by a long shot._

_Before getting the chance to interview couples who have found love on this site, I had the privilege of talking to members over the phone. These calls were sometimes regarding lost messages, trouble signing-in or uploading pictures. The first time I heard of Y/N and her story with James, though, my job became a little more interesting._

_I remember answering the phone, greeting the member on the other side of the call with my memorized line; “This is Craig at whosyourmate.com. How can I help you?”_

_I then got into a conversation with Y/N, who unlike James wasn’t finding amusement in their match but who was more than ready to let me know just how upset she was. I have had experience with upset members before who blame the site for their failed dates. The fact that this had not been a failed date, but a soulmate level match Y/N was ready to ignore made me curious. She went on to say that James was like an annoying neighbor you can’t move away from who does whatever he could to make your day miserable. I tried to calm her down by sharing my own experience [I met my wife of 10 years on the site] to no avail._

_I wondered how Y/N and James had approached the match. Through the call I learned that they knew one another and I figured they would eventually run into each other._

_The power of ‘What if” took over their lives after I got off the phone with Y/N. After a brief laugh, James began to consider the meaning of the match. Began to look back at small moments where Y/N seemed to stand out to him among all his other friends. He began to question whether the match was more than just amusing. He began to wonder if it was accurate._

_A rising photographer, James set out to test out the accuracy of our soulmate-level match determination. With a gallery set to open that same night, he quickly moved a few things around and prepared to bring up the match to Y/N, who had been invited before receiving that infamous notification._

_She did not receive the surprise and the mention of the match well. Her history with James, caused her to think this was just another one of his teasing moments, something created at her expense._

_“I never considered myself to be the most romantic guy,” James says as he reflects back to that night, almost one year ago. “At least not in the way romance is often portrayed. I though the power of words was often stronger than a superficial gesture. After I saw how she reacted that night, something inside me made me sure the match had been accurate because I couldn’t seem to let her go. I couldn’t see myself letting her walk out of that gallery without hearing me out first.”_

_Y/N shifts in her seat, a sudden surge of bashfulness taking over her reactions after hearing James speak._

_“I walked her home that night,” James continues. “She hated every minute of it, I think, but I got to say what I needed to. I told her that I couldn’t stop thinking about the match. That I kept wondering about whether we would be overlooking something special because of our past. I was more than ready to sweep her off her feet. More than ready to let her see a new side of me, because the realization of what could exist between both of us was too strong.”_

_Y/N and James continued to tell their story. The emotions they felltfor the other evident as they look into each other’s eyes, staring longingly as if they are making up for the lost time they spent bickering. Their hands move on their own to find the other’s, as if that small gesture has some hidden meaning behind it. As if their hands had once been forbidden to touch._

_Their love story, because that is exactly what this has become, is unique. Our site played a small role in their relationship. Now almost a year after their first reactions, they sit side-by-side looking to the future with positive thoughts. The uniqueness of their relationship becomes clear as you spend time with them. Teasing remarks are sprinkled into their conversations. Inside jokes are uttered and are only noticeable to the outsider when one of them starts laughing at a seemingly normal statement._

_The role this site had to play in bringing these two together is a point of debate during this interview. They are both sure the site was what brought them together. That annoying match, Y/N dreaded is now something she looks back with fondness. And before sitting down to talk to them I thought the same. I thought this site was the only reason they connected, and although this story will be featured to promote the way our site brings couples together, I believe there is something more to this story. There is always something more to stories of love._

_They have an innate connection, a spark that lived within them long before they were matched. The way they complement the other is something an algorithm could detect, but it’s also something that is visible to the naked eye. Surely, the site facilitated their realization, but I believe it would’ve happened either way. Their bond and love were not going to stay hidden for much longer. James would have done something, or Y/N would have said something that would have ignited that spark. The years of bickering was nothing more than a slow burn, one that would eventually lead them to were they are now._

_“What if” James laughs. “Those two words consumed my mind. And although you think it would’ve happened anyway,” he says with a nod of his head towards me, “I would like the people who are hopefully reading this to know that "What if", doesn’t have to consume your mind. Sweep that person you can’t stop thinking about off their feet. Tell them how you feel, just how much they have occupied your thoughts. Let them know you think there’s something there. This site has an amazing way of giving you perspective. A perspective much broader than your own. Consider the matches you receive, and when you have that feeling of "What if", go for it.”_

_“I yelled at you for something that turned out to be beautiful,” Y/N says as she references her entertaining phone call to customer service. “The match I hated, the one I couldn’t get over, led me to meet the man I love. Yes, I had met him before, but not like this. I feel like I met him a second time after our match. He let go of whatever façade he had built and let me see who he truly was. Our mutual friend was over the moon, of course, but not more than me.”_

_My time with them is up as we get up from where we were sitting, a cozy spot at a café that has seen their relationship grow. They walk hand in hand mentioning this was part of their walk back home that night after the match. Their gazes are soft once more, seeing them you wouldn’t believe there was ever anything more than love between them. That love seems unshakeable at this point. It seems solid, something out of a romance movie._

_Their love story is unique, I repeat. And yours can be too._

_PS. I tried to remain professional while writing this story, but I think Y/N and James will find humor to my next statement. I told you so._  
–

“Well then,” you say as you finish reading the story. “Craig is so unprofessional,” you laugh as you read his end statement.

“We’re unique,” Bucky beams at you. “And we’re basically _The Notebook_ in real life, according to our good friend Craig” he laughs as he looks again at the picture that’s attached to the story.

“Nope,” you reply leaning into him as he wraps his arms around you. “Not happening. We’re not _The Notebook_ , have never been _The Notebook_ , and will never be _The Notebook_.”

“That sounds familiar,” Bucky chuckles. “I love you,” he whispers as he gets closer to you, eyes trained on yours.

“I love you too,” you respond before he captures your lips in a passionate kiss.

Your story was unique, one that even you sometimes wondered if it was real, but in moments like this, where your lips were once again on Bucky’s, you were more than grateful to know that it was real. To know that that annoying jerk Steve introduced you to, had become the love of your life. You weren’t Allie and Bucky wasn’t Noah. You were Y/N and Bucky and that was simply perfect.


End file.
